The 6th grade revisited

Now that my boss is MIA, me and my co-workers have to report to the manager of the application development department. He has combined his department and mine so that we all get together for weekly project status meetings. In the past few weeks, the three of us women would show up to the meetings, we would discuss our projects then we would leave and he would continue his meeting with the rest of his staff. This week the manager decided that we would rotate around the table, not singling us women out first.

This is a story about yesterday's status meeting.

Understanding the development group is not an easy thing. There are six men in the department. All have different quirks, as most people do, and the stereotype "computer geek" definitely applies to each of them in varying degrees. One guy looks like Elvis, another I like to call Comic Book Guy (see any episode of the Simpsons), and another reminds me of a cross between Louis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowell from Revenge of the Nerds. They like to talk about things like comic book heroes (obviously), the Lord of the Rings books, Star Wars and Star Trek, as well as get involved in discussions where they can argue theory and logic with furvor. With that said, I imagine their experience involving dating/relationships with women to be quite limited. I think I was right.

I was seated between Comic Book Guy and Elvis when the meeting started. I had my legs crossed where my foot was dangling under the table. Elvis decided to ever so gently bump my dangling foot. I thought it was an accident until he kicked me two more times. So I uncrossed my legs.

When it came to my turn to speak Comic Book Guy decided to slowly and deliberately push on the seat of my swivel chair. The chair moved until the left arm bumped into the table. I thought it was just centrifugal force moving the chair so I just scooted back to my original position. Until it happened again. Of course, I was speaking so I was half-paying attention to CBG's arm reaching towards the back of the chair to move it again. Bam. Into the table we go. Elvis was snickering.

When I realized what was actually happening, I had re-crossed my legs. So I took the dangling foot and gave CBG a soft kick in the shin. I was just trying to make him stop pushing on my chair. He immediately howled, "OUCH! She kicked me!"

Oh for God sakes, I thought. So I asked out loud, "What is wrong with you?!"

The response: "I didn't do nothing."

Elvis looked down and CBG folded his hands in his lap. Apparently the department manager was used to this type of behavior by these boys so he just ignored it all. It felt like I was in the 6th grade again with boys who somehow knew that had an interest in girls, but they just couldn't figure out why quite yet.

I was waiting for one of them to pull my hair and snap my bra.