Glass Ceilings: No Barrier Unbroken
I seem to find myself in the midst of very interesting company, which often leads to even more interesting conversation, 97 % of my time; Interesting being a very relative term. I work in a field that allows me to experience every walk of life: age, sex, gender, profession, socioeconomic status. You name a classification, I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with its members. With every person that I meet, there never ceases to be an opportunity to learn a unique (because the other adjectives I might use wouldn’t be PC) perspective on how the world is seen through the eyes of someone new.
My experiences have often led to many positive, thought-invoking discussions that leave a girl like me tingling at the chance for a friendly debate. Then there are those chance encounters that leave me scratching my head at the ignorance and stupidity that others manage to live inside of each day. Today’s tete-e-tete was one of those head-scratching, dumbfounded, is he really serious encounters...
For those that haven’t figured out what lovely profession gives you the opportunity to experience the wonderful world of diversity like the one outlined at the forefront of my introduction, I work in....wait for it, wait for it...customer service. To many, customer service seems to take on the connotation of “This person is not smart enough to get a real job and, as the pretentious prick that I am, I’m going to try to make you my b!tch” *blinks twice slowly* Instead, I’ve embraced the reality that in order for me to make it doing what I really want to do in life, I can’t relegate any task related to dealing with the public as too demeaning or beneath my level of talent. In order to be a people person, you have to know how to deal with people. Granted, there are some people who are naturally adept at superficial meetings and small talk, that often leads others to believe that the person is a “people person,” however there is a science to knowing how to deal with every walk of life. This science, I get better at perfecting every day. But I am a work in progress, and as such, I am presented with new challenges to overcome in regards to learning how to deal with people.
Before I get too far offtrack, because loquacious probably should have been my middle name (*thinks to myself* maybe that’s what the “L” really stands for) let me just tell you today’s experience. The long and short of how this conversation started was a result of my not removing my work badge after I left work. A gentleman (used very loosely for the purpose of my story) asks what department I worked in to which I told him and his demeanor changes. Mind you, the intelligent conversation leading to this point gave this man no “indication” that I was “working in an entry level position” (Yes, those are direct quotes). After quickly explaining that although I may have entered the company in that department, my skills, abilities, and experiences to date left me with much more on my resume than “entry level” highlights. I toot my own horn when it comes the contributions that I have made and the experience that I have gained through my professional career thus far. The reason I do so is because I deserve the accolades. I work hard. I take initiative. I ask for responsibilities and opportunities that most wouldn’t even think about. The reason: ambition. I know that I will one day be even more accomplished because I work so hard to get the opportunities that I want.
Welllllllllll....as convinced as I am of my future success, not everyone feels the same. Even complete and total strangers; not that those opinions too much matter. The rundown of my resume only served to fuel this man’s position that I have already piqued and that, because I am a minority woman in the workplace, I should be content with my current because “it seems as if I [sic] have a pretty comfortable set up. After all, I [sic] don’t honestly expect to roll around with the big boys.” Let’s just say it took strength to not revert to lashing out at, what sounded to me like complete and total stupidity, and give this man a piece of my mind in a way that he would actually listen.
I took a deep breath and proceeded to point out to him that I’d always envisioned myself at the head of someone’s board room, and the way things were headed, that board room would likely belong to me. Yes, you read that correctly...I will literally be an owner of that board room. Not only that but the capabilities of a woman in the workplace, especially when it comes to organization, prioritization, time/project management, and multi-tasking come second to none (Don’t debate me). And even more than that, it is usually the underestimation of a woman’s abilities in the workplace and the assumption that the “glass ceiling” will always serve as a hinderance that is the ultimate downfall to male counterparts. If the economic theory that minorities (once only referred to as minority women) won’t be able to surpass a certain level of success professionally, “glass ceiling” isn’t a very fitting term. The reason why? Glass is still a penetrable boundary. Any belief that I, or any other woman, wouldn’t be able to “roll around with the big boys” is elementary, at best. I also encouraged this man to hold fast to his belief that I have reached my peak, and my current “female appropriate” career choice was going to be where I subsequently end my career as well. His inquiring mind was a bit confused at this point. But I ended my encounter with this thought: When I shatter every preconceived notion you have about where my career will lead, I guarantee that not only will you see my name in the news BUT your future grandchildren will also be repeating my name as I am sure that my impact on society will have to be documented in what they will be reading as history books. And just in case he didn’t catch my name I repeated it...Veronica L Cooper.
Was my ending a bit dramatic? Maybe. Does that change my sentiment? Nope, not at all. I will rewrite history in my own way. It’s a good thing I was never told to aim for the ceiling because I would’ve ended up stuck. Since my ambitions are so far beyond that, in the grand scheme of things, I’m ok breaking a little glass.
