5 things I hate about being an IT girl

5 things I hate about being an IT girl

Emilia Tyl bio photo By Emilia Tyl Comment

Coding is great. I generally like it, although there are always days when something just doesn’t work (or Unity is hanging, or Windows just decided to get updated). But there are some things that really drive me mad and are totally separated from the heartless metal parts and tiny bits. These are the people that surround me in my journey in pursue for the cleaner code.

Awkward greeting moments

My hand is not lava, believe me. I can shake hands with you, just as you do with all other people in the room. I can also say “Hi!” and smile. I can high five you. I can be patted on the head (yep I had a friend who used to do that and that was kinda sweet). However, it’s really not nice when you just ignore me when greeting everyone else. Although there are all different kinds of things you can do to me to express your joy that you see me for the first time today, a hand shake is really the best option. All other lead to funny, awkward moments.

Sweets, sweets everywhere.

So I’m always on a diet, big deal. I like eating but I also like pole dancing and I need to be able to look at myself in all of the mirrors at the gym. Additionally, I’m getting married in June so I’ll have to be super fit by that time. Try being fit when every day, after lunch, my beloved coworkers go downstairs and buy all kinds of awesome sweets. And I like sweets, very much. But my wedding dress doesn’t like them.

I can’t show off my beautifully done nails.

Yep, that’s right. I may call myself a geek/nerd/whatever, but I’m still a woman, you know. And since I started making enough money to go to a manicurist once in a while, it would be nice if someone noticed it EVEN ONCE. People compliment it even on Twitter, but my coworkers are more interested in which games are currently on humble bundle, or why the server is not working (surprisingly they always ask me this question, I have no idea why ]:->). I guess I have to be satisfied with talking with my mum and my best friend about cat eye and ombre effects.

Lazy recruters

As every programmer who has some .Net jobs listed in Linkedin, I get many job propositions. Most of them don’t fit me completely, but I like reading them to remind me of how awesome my job is and how mundane tasks lurk in corners of sad corporations. But DEAR RECRUTER – if you’re spending (khe khe wasting khe) yours and mine time, just please, take that extra step and use the feminine forms in the letters. Little disclaimer – in Polish language it makes much more difference than in English. There is no worse thing in the morning than digging through the Inbox and reading “Dear Mister…”.

People telling me I’m being discriminated

The joke about a guinea pig is actually pretty funny. Jokes about putting my computer in the kitchen, since this is where I belong are also funny*. I can keep healthy distance to myself and I have some sense of humor. These come in pair with trusting me with serious tasks, drinking beer with me and telling me that I’m doing good things. Also I can joke about my friends too. And hell, I like when people are surprised when I tell them I’m a programmer and a girl at the same time. It even happened twice that boys said that they wish I was single when I said I make games (they clearly haven’t seen Kickerinho**, hah). And yet there are people out there who say that it is a sign of discrimination.

* I experienced this kind of jokes while working in a team where 90% were students and we were really great friends. ;)

** Kickerinho is obviously a great game, but I’m afraid they’re picturing me working on something as big as The Witcher.

*** This post was supposed to be funny, but if it’s not for you, then please at least treat it with a wink.

**** There are many more things that I love about being an IT girl. :3

Like my fan page or follow me on Twitter to get notified when future posts appear. (。◕‿◕。)

comments powered by Disqus