women in shops

Over the course of my life I have been in many shops, but this is the first time I have worked in one. Shops could be cabinet, furniture, automotive, machine, piano or upholstery. There is a different atmosphere than an office space, usually a collection of machines, tools, work benches, along with a collection of dust, grease, scraps of fabric. My shop is like that. There are special tools associated with pianos, as well as an array of power equipment, large and small. It has a sense of order unto it's own. And in my experience the inhabitants are predominantly men. But not all. I know several female woodworkers in Building 14, all very competent at their trade. There is a balance of maintaining femininity while not being a girl. Sometimes you just have to get dirty, and sometimes you have to ask for help lifting something. My shop is unusual in that baked goods are brought in more often by men than by me. But the touch of a woman is often needed, because for some reason we just seem to be able to find things when men can't. A slight hard edge is needed though to survive in a shop. Temperatures can be cold, or hot. A certainly level of dirtiness just has to be accepted or no work gets accomplished. Women who survive in shops probably have a certain sense of independence, will go camping, can fix their own computers, and don't worry about their finger nails. Someday I'm going to sit down with Liz, and Dixie, and Kerry, and discuss all this.