Every so often, I have this realization, usually when I'm watching a pharmaceutical ad, or seeing someone watch a youtube video on some little teeny hand held device, that the future has arrived. It's the gleaming future where a pill can calm your restless legs and you can see and talk to someone halfway around the world on your laptop computer, as we sometimes do with Jim's parents. Any question, no matter how trivial, can be answered with a few keystrokes and a couple of clicks.
So perhaps that is the reason I find it so fascinating that the big international news story the last few days has been about... pirates. I am as anti-pirate as that Ask a Ninja guy, and despite the accompanying stories about women moving to the coast over there to try to land a pirate husband, I certainly don't find the whole thing intriguing or romantic. It's just so...fundamentally retro, I guess. We are reading about (and watching, and listening to) the same kind of news story that people read and heard about two hundred years ago. Probably two thousand years ago.
The other day I made a new Facebook friend who used to be a coworker back in MN. She was tagged in some photos of a women-in-technology type group (I'm guessing) at my old place of employment. I recognized many of my old colleagues, and had an actual painful flash of memory of what it was like to have a job where I had friends, and where I looked forward to being at work, and being part of a group. Having meetings in person. Going out to lunch more than once every two years. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating... but I'm really not. So I felt sorry for myself for a couple of minutes, and then I remembered the Ghandi quote about...being the change you want to see in the world? I am fairly certain he didn't mean it in such a self-serving way, but the point for me is that if I don't like my situation, and I don't try to do anything about it, well, whose fault is that, then?
So, now that we're thoroughly settled into our new digs (did I mention I finally got a parking spot in the lot next to the building? Sweet!), maybe it's the right time to try to put something together, to get all the women of the company who are in disparate organizations, but all inhabiting the same fancy office building, into some kind of association. I just need to invent some mission statement, since the real one (help me like my job more!) is not exactly useful to the bottom line of the company. If you have any inspiring women-in-technology mission statements you don't need, send them my way! In the meantime, I am going to continue working out a way to make my own future look a little more like my past.
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3 comments:
I applaud your effort! But I don't think you necessarily need a mission statement. What if you just invite all the women together, and say the purpose is just to get to know each other? The key is to try and make your employer pay for lunch for everyone -- that ensures good turnout. (At least at my work.) Or the "topic" for the first meeting could be whether people are interested in forming a group of women at the company and, if so, what the mission should be! (liz)
Hi, This is Sheryl (from MN). First I LOVE your blog, the hubby showed me today when he stopped by my cube. We occasionally have a group of women et together at work. Peggy is actually the one who started it to get us techie women together and each person invited others until we were spread to other non R&D groups. We've not had a meeting in a year, but when we did, we'd meet about every other month for happy hour and appetizers and also every other month for lunch at a really nice restaurant that we didn't have time to go to anymore coz of families or whatever. I even organized a spa day at a nice cosy spa down in the Afton area. We're hoping to get it revived again.
Last week I got an invite to a brown bag lunch meeting for the WISE women. I guess it's a new group someone is starting at work. WISE is Women In Software Engineering. The meeting is next week so I'm not sure if it's a lunch to share ideas or if it's a more relaxed group similar to the group we had going.
Another thing you could do is form a Parent Social Group. I run one at work and I bring in a speaker every 2 months or so who's willing to speak for free. Today they spoke about Sibling Rivalry.
Anyway, just thought I'd give you some ideas. :)
--Sheryl
We miss you, too :-) Maybe what you want will in turn serve some other woman hoping to connect. I know I always appreciate others' efforts to organize and bring people together. It's not one of my strengths.
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