This is a post about animals. We will start with dogs, proceed with bats, and conclude with weasels.
1) Dogs.
I have never been keen on the canine. To be clear, I don't hate them, but I am not infatuated with them like the rest of society. I was routinely harassed by the neighbor's dalmatian in my youth and my 65 lb frame was easily tackled when visiting friends or family who seemingly all had dogs. "Oh she's just excited to see you!" That may be, but I really don't like being clawed while lying on the floor paralyzed in fear. They followed me for over a mile when hiking in Greece, making me very uncomfortable. They ruined my beach time on the Cook Islands and tried to sneak into our hut. I admit it. I'm scared of dogs. Irrational? Maybe, but one of my biggest pet peeves in life are dog owners who operate under the assumption that everyone loves dogs. I think folks like me are the silent majority because American society harshly judges those who don't swoon and yell, "Awwwww" over a shaking chihuahua. Before reporting for my flight last night, I wanted to go for a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. When I got to a small park on the bluffs, there was a man walking with an empty leash in his hand. I found the dog soon enough, as it had charged me full speed from across the park, stood on its hind legs and started grabbing at me. The owner regained control and apologized. I lied and said it was ok. 10 seconds later, the dog escaped the owner's grasp and charged again, this time clawing away my headphones and knocking away my phone before being pulled away again. The owner apologized again, and once more I lied and said it was alright.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, later that night I would also have to return to the gate after a man and his massive comfort dog were becoming belligerent and swearing at the flight attendants. Well, I think to be fair it was mostly the man. I can't speak for the dog. As a result of all this, we and the remaining passengers were delayed over an hour for our red-eye flight to Austin.
2) Bats.
There are supposed to be a large number of bats hanging out under the Congress Street Bridge at dusk. I think it was too cold the last few nights and the bats have migrated south for the winter, or whatever it is that bats do. In any event, I saw no bats, just a lot of eager tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of this batty display. And that brings us to our final creature.
3) Weasels.
A few years ago, a very talented filmmaker, who I happen to acquaint myself with, created a parody trailer of the Wolf of Wall Street. The idea was simple: swap every male character with a female one. It was featured in Huffington Post, Slate, UpWorthy, Jezebel, news stations, and various international publications. So naturally everyone hated it. The comments section featured such eloquently worded statements such as, "Who was in the kitchen when this was being made?," "I'd fap to that," and "These women and their balding jew boyfriends need to stop trying." Look, I realize my forehead is large-ish, but I still have most of my hair. Hmph.
Anyway, point being, it's very difficult for a woman to say or do anything that makes a statement without intense backlash. I think it was after Nicole's video that I became very aware of how awful our society is and how demeaning it is to women in all industries. In the post-Weinstein era, perhaps people are slowly becoming more aware of the issue, albeit slowly.
With many of my friends and colleagues posting #metoo stories on facebook, it got me contemplating my role in all this. Surely there must be more that I can do beyond simply not being a dick. And I have some ideas. Within my own industry, I don't share the "office" with many women other than the flight attendants. Most of the people I fly with are respectful and professional, and I am proud of that. However...every once in a while I encounter a specimen that we shall call the weasel.
The weasel might brag of their many alleged conquests or how they are convinced a passenger was flirting with them. The weasel is arrogant, and says offensive things about the female flight attendants physical appearance or intelligence. The weasel in many respects...is really just an asshole. Now the tricky part for me in working with weasels is that I don't know how to respond. More often than not, I force a fake laugh to their absurd comments. After all, I don't want to offend the person I have to share a small closed-in space with for the next few days. And that's the root problem. The weasel doesn't really understand that they're a weasel. The weasel thinks that as long as a woman doesn't hear what they say, all is ok. And I'm allowing this "locker room talk" to occur when really what I should be doing is calling people out on their nonsense. Something as simple as, "That's not cool," may do the trick.
I don't pretend to understand what women go through on a regular basis, but if we rewind to my issues with dogs, maybe it gives me an idea. It's really not a lot of fun to be out for a walk and minding your own business only to be harassed by someone off their leash who thinks they can just follow you and start touching without permission. "But he likes you!" No. He's a weasel. And no, it's not ok.
1) Dogs.
I have never been keen on the canine. To be clear, I don't hate them, but I am not infatuated with them like the rest of society. I was routinely harassed by the neighbor's dalmatian in my youth and my 65 lb frame was easily tackled when visiting friends or family who seemingly all had dogs. "Oh she's just excited to see you!" That may be, but I really don't like being clawed while lying on the floor paralyzed in fear. They followed me for over a mile when hiking in Greece, making me very uncomfortable. They ruined my beach time on the Cook Islands and tried to sneak into our hut. I admit it. I'm scared of dogs. Irrational? Maybe, but one of my biggest pet peeves in life are dog owners who operate under the assumption that everyone loves dogs. I think folks like me are the silent majority because American society harshly judges those who don't swoon and yell, "Awwwww" over a shaking chihuahua. Before reporting for my flight last night, I wanted to go for a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. When I got to a small park on the bluffs, there was a man walking with an empty leash in his hand. I found the dog soon enough, as it had charged me full speed from across the park, stood on its hind legs and started grabbing at me. The owner regained control and apologized. I lied and said it was ok. 10 seconds later, the dog escaped the owner's grasp and charged again, this time clawing away my headphones and knocking away my phone before being pulled away again. The owner apologized again, and once more I lied and said it was alright.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, later that night I would also have to return to the gate after a man and his massive comfort dog were becoming belligerent and swearing at the flight attendants. Well, I think to be fair it was mostly the man. I can't speak for the dog. As a result of all this, we and the remaining passengers were delayed over an hour for our red-eye flight to Austin.2) Bats.
There are supposed to be a large number of bats hanging out under the Congress Street Bridge at dusk. I think it was too cold the last few nights and the bats have migrated south for the winter, or whatever it is that bats do. In any event, I saw no bats, just a lot of eager tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of this batty display. And that brings us to our final creature.
A few years ago, a very talented filmmaker, who I happen to acquaint myself with, created a parody trailer of the Wolf of Wall Street. The idea was simple: swap every male character with a female one. It was featured in Huffington Post, Slate, UpWorthy, Jezebel, news stations, and various international publications. So naturally everyone hated it. The comments section featured such eloquently worded statements such as, "Who was in the kitchen when this was being made?," "I'd fap to that," and "These women and their balding jew boyfriends need to stop trying." Look, I realize my forehead is large-ish, but I still have most of my hair. Hmph.
Anyway, point being, it's very difficult for a woman to say or do anything that makes a statement without intense backlash. I think it was after Nicole's video that I became very aware of how awful our society is and how demeaning it is to women in all industries. In the post-Weinstein era, perhaps people are slowly becoming more aware of the issue, albeit slowly.With many of my friends and colleagues posting #metoo stories on facebook, it got me contemplating my role in all this. Surely there must be more that I can do beyond simply not being a dick. And I have some ideas. Within my own industry, I don't share the "office" with many women other than the flight attendants. Most of the people I fly with are respectful and professional, and I am proud of that. However...every once in a while I encounter a specimen that we shall call the weasel.
The weasel might brag of their many alleged conquests or how they are convinced a passenger was flirting with them. The weasel is arrogant, and says offensive things about the female flight attendants physical appearance or intelligence. The weasel in many respects...is really just an asshole. Now the tricky part for me in working with weasels is that I don't know how to respond. More often than not, I force a fake laugh to their absurd comments. After all, I don't want to offend the person I have to share a small closed-in space with for the next few days. And that's the root problem. The weasel doesn't really understand that they're a weasel. The weasel thinks that as long as a woman doesn't hear what they say, all is ok. And I'm allowing this "locker room talk" to occur when really what I should be doing is calling people out on their nonsense. Something as simple as, "That's not cool," may do the trick.
I don't pretend to understand what women go through on a regular basis, but if we rewind to my issues with dogs, maybe it gives me an idea. It's really not a lot of fun to be out for a walk and minding your own business only to be harassed by someone off their leash who thinks they can just follow you and start touching without permission. "But he likes you!" No. He's a weasel. And no, it's not ok.
