Women’s Build Aspirations

I still maintain that this Women’s Build will be an absolutely amazing experience. Yes, we may not get an amazing amount done, but I have still met with several women who have already given me enough hope for my own goals that I am very interested in, and extremely excited about what people I will meet during this Build! In fact it’s “not only the destination, but the journey” that counts, and even if the Build is just stressful for me, the journey towards the Build has so far been well worth it!

I am developing a camaraderie with different of these women who will be participating in this build that I have had with other of the guys onsite, but what makes it even cooler is that we can connect on a higher level than just construction – we all share “being female” in common. It’s the kind of joking around with “the guys” that you get in these such boys clubs, that sometimes, if you fit in well enough with them, they will let you in on, but if they don’t let you in on it, you are SOL. But working with these women, there is no "boy's clubs"; in fact there are actually "girl's clubs" starting, where the girls who share renovation or construction in common are bonding together over the experience of being involved in residential construction from the ground up. We can do it just as well as "the boys" can, and we are bonding, and having a blast! It's amazing!

Once again, Habitat is one place where I can be myself and be accepted for being EXACTLY who I am on a daily basis, and not only that, but also be EXPECTED to be a leader, and be pushed to my full potential, and joke around and have fun doing it!

I met this woman today who will be a House Leader at the Women’s Build, and oh yes, is she ever cut out for it! A carpenter, and then I am assuming, a project manager in B.C., she doesn’t seem to take much BS. She is all I needed to keep me on track, and keep me doing what I am supposed to be doing. I really enjoyed working with her. She seemed to adopt me. It also seemed that she’s one tough cookie. When she was an apprentice, there would have been probably only one “her” in the entire program, and she would be the one!

First thing in the morning it was like a car driving along the side of a metal wall, screeching, paint-stripping friction, with me wondering what would be worse. But I think that even though there were a couple of instances where we collided the wrong way, but were BOTH determined to work together with each other, and respect and understand each other, and that determination had us working together really well by the end of the day. It was bloody gorgeous! Whenever I would go to teach someone something, she let me do that, but whenever I would go to “do work” – and she seemed to know the difference – it would be “what are you doing?! You have a day job; here you have labour; get THEM to do the work! You lead! You supervise, don’t work!” Holy crap! It was amazing! It was like she was on my back, but that’s the kind of yelling I respond to beautifully, there are no demeaning or derogatory elements to her commands, but she does issue commands. I am trained well enough that all I need is a little kick in the butt when I am veering off in the wrong direction, and she was kicking me, so I corrected. Another amazing thing was that I could share construction humour with her, and she actually got it … it took some prompting on one of the jokes … and she could share joking back with me. It was so cool to be able to do that with someone.

See, this woman that I met today, along with other women in Habitat, like Jenny, are pretty amazing to me, because they are proof that there are “tough chicks” out there, who have no problem at all with being that way, because it gets things done. And they have found their way to construction because of one of the exact reasons I am drawn to construction; it is an area that operates on the gears of respect, and being tough, and so you can BE yourself, and BE tough. It’s almost too good to be true, but yet these women are living proof that it is in fact possible.

Here’s Jenny saying a while ago that she gets these nicknames, and this reputation as a “nagger” @ Head Office, but does she give a f…damn? NO! And I think that’s bloody amazing! She gets the job done. She is a tough and confident woman, and other people are not used to that, and so they resist, and possibly try to send jibes her way, to cut her down, but these women are able to not let it phase them, and keep on going. THAT is exactly how I yearn to be. I would love to have the confidence, and the unshakable goals to be able to be like Jenny. I could follow some of these women around onsite just in awe of how they conduct themselves. (Although if I actually DID that, it might get to their heads, and I don’t want to inflate anyone’s egos here ;-P ) Although I would not be ashamed to say that I would be very willing to respect these different women, because I KNOW how they are acting, and I know some of the crap they went through that toughened them up. I hope I can come out of my own challenges as successfully as they have.

Speaking earlier of camaraderie, I am now comfortable enough with some of the women onsite, that I have started to bug them and joke around with them, like I joke around with Roger and Brian. It was gorgeous! I kept on bugging Jenny, and goin’ at her today, makin’ her lose her train of thought, just doing all the kinds of “being a brat” that Roger can do, but doing it in a way that it was received as fun, and joking. THOSE are the kinds of things that bond you. Is being able to goof off with someone else, and know that they can goof off with you right back.

There are other women there (Barb from Head Office, Kerry, and Kris) who are younger (30s I’d guess) who are not quite as tough as Jenny, but you know they are also confident women. This is the kind of thing that a young (male) apprentice would feel, if they felt that kind of stuff! Kind of like a warm, fuzzy feeling; a hope that they can achieve what these other guys they work for and learn from have achieved, and that they have the ultimate respect for these guys. I actually talked to one of Will’s students today, and I think he feels that way about Will.