Men at Work

It's not true that men don't talk a lot. Every woman that claims this should attend a meeting with only men around the table. Whereas men believe that women can talk "forever" and jump from one topic to another without losing a beat, it's only an admission of their frustration in not being able to keep up with a woman's mind and thought process.

After attending a meeting yesterday I can honestly say that men have a one track mind. And it's a 45 rpm track. When it gets stuck in a rut, the "song" just goes on and on and on, boring you to tears! I had to resort to all kinds of self-waking methods, ranging from the write-something-down-look-busy, through the look-at-your-fascinating-PDA. An hour and a half of this meeting just about fried my brain.

If it weren't my first attendance at a meeting, I would have cut it short by 90 minutes and gotten far more accomplished and agreed upon within the first five minutes of that "progress meeting" (which should be more aptly renamed "non-progress meeting").

"Is this the air-conditioning unit you wanted?"
"No! This isn't the one specified in the contract. Discussion closed!"

That's how the meeting should have been conducted.

The actual version went like this:
"Is this the air-conditioning unit you wanted?"
"We already rejected it the first time. This is the second time we're rejecting it."
"But why? it's a much better unit than what you wanted."
"But we need a unit that will interface with the management console…. And if you order something different I have to go through an approval process through homeland security and they may not even approve it."
"But this system has the frequency controller and it will communicate with the master controller via the RS…."
"I would like to emphasize that while this may be a good unit, it doesn't look like it will communicate well with our system. And we can't order from Germany because if anything happens it would be too long to order another one."
"But this system won't malfunction and you will not need to reorder, it comes with a warranty."
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

This went for half an hour worth of a meeting, when all that needed to be said is "This is not what is in the contract. Discussion closed."

But I think men just enjoy talking technical stuff regardless of how relevant it is to the discussion or the goal of that discussion. It's like they get points in heaven for each technical term they use in a sentence. And if they use more than their opponent - heck, that's grounds for sainthood.

Or at least I thought they only talk technical stuff, until the discusson about the colour of the generator started.

"What colour is the generator you ordered?"
"The generator is green, the load bank is blue."
[bunch of snickers around the table]
"Can they paint it white at the factory?"
"Yes, but why not just plant some trees around instead?"
"Because the client wants it in white."
"But there's going to be a visual barrier around it, right?"
"We're not settled on that yet, we have three options, grate, fence or glass block."
[collective rolling of the eyes follows]
"So who's going to notice it's blue and green behind this barrier?"
"No one, but the client wants it in white. And we should make sure it's weather resistant paint."
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.

So I sit there listening to these men discuss colours and visual barriers and totally astonished at the waste of time on something so easily resolved with one visit to the actual site of the generator.

It's outside, at the back of the building, by the loading dock. No one ever walks there, except those who go out smoking, and service people. No one is going to even look towards that area because it's uphill and adjacent to a wall. There's nothing there! So who cares what colour it is, and who needs a visual barrier??? And heck, as a woman, I wouldn't want any barrier there, because I wouldn't feel safe walking to the parking lot in an area where someone could be hiding behind this barrier (and they're worried about terrorists???). Oh, and this choice of white… we're talking a grassy area with trees and a gray concrete wall - can we make this stick out any more? Why not paint it flourescent orange?!

But let me tell you why this is even an issue - not because we have some people with poor taste in design, but because they're all men and they must show their control of the situation by arguing the point and coming up with the most ridiculous demands. And whoever wins this argument comes up on top. Regardless of the cost and time involved in these non-progress meetings.

I eagerly await the day when I can run these meetings and say, "okay, you've wasted enough of my time. This discussion is pointless and it's all about your manly-power struggle. It's childish and we're past kindergarten. Grow up!"


My next post - the other track mind.