day 2 of my new life
day 2 - monday
holy crap! today was really hard. i am starting to wonder what i’ve gotten myself into. i left a cushy office job to essentially work a blue collar job outside in the elements. today was even hotter and more humid than yesterday. say mid 80s with >85% humidity. so it’s hot and humid and we get two 18-wheeler trucks FULL of trees and shrubs to unload. that’s a lot of plants. all of which were HEAVY b/c the containers and rootballs were wet so the plants would survive the travel.
i spent nearly all of my 8 hours today helping lift plants off the trucks, put them onto carts, move the carts to wherever the plants needed to go, then lifting the plants off the cart and into the nursery beds. and b/c the 2 trucks were there at the same time, we had to move FAST. on this particular day, we had 4 people in my department - 1 guy and 3 females. luckily 2 of the guys from another department (not sure what it’s called - the guys who deal with the loading and unloading of mulch, soil, etc) helped with a lot of the heavy lifting. i noticed at one point, that the other 2 women in my department were not moving nearly as fast as i was or doing as much. it kind of irritated me a bit, but after thinking about it, i realize that it’s me who was doing something out of the ordinary. i don’t think there was an expectation that i do as much as i did. but i have a thing about not being weak, not being girly, and being fiercely independent. it’s my chip, essentially. i have this need to prove that i can do the same things that a man can do, and can do them without help.
i learned a few very important lessons today:
1) i need to figure out what my pace is for this job. it’s okay if i don’t move at lightening speed.
2) hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. b/c it was so hot and i was moving so fast doing very physical labor for so many hours, which is not something my body is used to, i got overheated a few times throughout the day. when that happens, it’s very obvious b/c my face gets extremeley red. good for showing people you’re working hard, but not so good for customer relations! also not so good for my body. hehehe
3) i am, in fact, a female and am not as strong as the men with whom i work. i need to accept that or i’m likely to set expectations of me too high and end up hurting myself physically in the process.
4) don’t forget to put on sunblock every morning! i forgot to do that today and i now have a ring around my neck from my shirt. great.
5) rain pants are awesome. love them. need more. (did i forget to mention that in the late afternoon the skies opened up and dumped buckets of rain? i grabbed my hat, but skipped the rain jacket b/c i was already soaking wet and frankly welcomed it b/c i was so hot.)
6) don’t drive nice new car to work on hot days. luckily i brought a towell with me to sit on so i wouldn’t funk up the honda.
7) use bug spray. at one point, i was being swarmed with gnats (they seem to like me better when i’m sweaty) and i was apparently bitten by several unknown things. i’m assuming they were spiders b/c it seems a bit early for mosquitos. i have a strange itchy bug bite on my face, one on each arm, and on the top of one ear.
so day 2 (as i lie on the heating pad with ice on my knees and jonathan massaging my feet - after i showered, of course), i’m doubting myself.
holy crap! today was really hard. i am starting to wonder what i’ve gotten myself into. i left a cushy office job to essentially work a blue collar job outside in the elements. today was even hotter and more humid than yesterday. say mid 80s with >85% humidity. so it’s hot and humid and we get two 18-wheeler trucks FULL of trees and shrubs to unload. that’s a lot of plants. all of which were HEAVY b/c the containers and rootballs were wet so the plants would survive the travel.
i spent nearly all of my 8 hours today helping lift plants off the trucks, put them onto carts, move the carts to wherever the plants needed to go, then lifting the plants off the cart and into the nursery beds. and b/c the 2 trucks were there at the same time, we had to move FAST. on this particular day, we had 4 people in my department - 1 guy and 3 females. luckily 2 of the guys from another department (not sure what it’s called - the guys who deal with the loading and unloading of mulch, soil, etc) helped with a lot of the heavy lifting. i noticed at one point, that the other 2 women in my department were not moving nearly as fast as i was or doing as much. it kind of irritated me a bit, but after thinking about it, i realize that it’s me who was doing something out of the ordinary. i don’t think there was an expectation that i do as much as i did. but i have a thing about not being weak, not being girly, and being fiercely independent. it’s my chip, essentially. i have this need to prove that i can do the same things that a man can do, and can do them without help.
i learned a few very important lessons today:
1) i need to figure out what my pace is for this job. it’s okay if i don’t move at lightening speed.
2) hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. b/c it was so hot and i was moving so fast doing very physical labor for so many hours, which is not something my body is used to, i got overheated a few times throughout the day. when that happens, it’s very obvious b/c my face gets extremeley red. good for showing people you’re working hard, but not so good for customer relations! also not so good for my body. hehehe
3) i am, in fact, a female and am not as strong as the men with whom i work. i need to accept that or i’m likely to set expectations of me too high and end up hurting myself physically in the process.
4) don’t forget to put on sunblock every morning! i forgot to do that today and i now have a ring around my neck from my shirt. great.
5) rain pants are awesome. love them. need more. (did i forget to mention that in the late afternoon the skies opened up and dumped buckets of rain? i grabbed my hat, but skipped the rain jacket b/c i was already soaking wet and frankly welcomed it b/c i was so hot.)
6) don’t drive nice new car to work on hot days. luckily i brought a towell with me to sit on so i wouldn’t funk up the honda.
7) use bug spray. at one point, i was being swarmed with gnats (they seem to like me better when i’m sweaty) and i was apparently bitten by several unknown things. i’m assuming they were spiders b/c it seems a bit early for mosquitos. i have a strange itchy bug bite on my face, one on each arm, and on the top of one ear.
so day 2 (as i lie on the heating pad with ice on my knees and jonathan massaging my feet - after i showered, of course), i’m doubting myself.