C*T in a Bike Shop

I got a job at another bike shop. This one lasted another three weeks. (Is there a pattern forming?)

I was hired as sales and told that I would be doing half mechanics. The owner was visibly frustrated whenever I worked on bikes.
I was then told they didn’t need a mechanic, which was consistently being taken back. I worked on bikes occasionally, because they had way too much work for their three mechanics.

Within the first week the owner was complaining to the manager about how badly they needed to hire a mechanic, or a mechanic who could also do sales.
When I pointed out that I have two years experience as a mechanic, WITH vocational training, I was told that I was hired for sales, not mechanics. (not exactly true)

I was first told by the manager that I WOULD have been hired as a mechanic if they needed one. When it became obvious that they needed a mechanic I was told that they would only hire a mechanic with 5+ experience.
Their newest mechanic has never worked on bikes before, and is a 17 year old male.

I’d rather people be patriarchal assholes to my face.
So I quit. Again.

Yesterday my colleagues referred to a customer as a ‘beaner’ because he is “mexican, or hispanic, or one of those,” and called a regular Chinese customer “Kung Fu Panda.” (Again.)

A woman was test riding bikes and commented that her mini-skirt wasn’t the best, to which my boss responded that I am there for questions like that. “She’s our lady, for lady questions. That’s what we’ve got a lady for—lady stuff. Yeah? Lady Stuff!” 

Today a customer: refused my help with a chain issue, and then told me how cool it was that I was learning about bikes by working in a bike shop. He’d considered doing so himself. 
I have worked as a mechanic for years now, and have vocational training. I am so sick of not being taken seriously/being respected in this industry.

——

On another note: I’m quitting. Today was awful for a number of reasons, and things are lining up too perfectly for me to not take the chance to get out of dodge. Goodbye Undisclosed Bike Shop. 
Go fuck yourself.

alleyleeplz asked: Randomly saw your posts about your "colleagues". How exactly do you put up with them? I probably would have left after a week of the rape jokes for sure, and all the racist/sexist jokes as well.

I’ve been debating whether or not I should tag my posts “I’ll quit tomorrow.”

First off, none of this is new to me. I am so used to the many many ways that patriarchy manifests itself, and how I see the kyriarchal system. Even when my colleague suddenly tosses out ‘rape!’ in my face, or shuffles around the room imitating an ‘asian woman’ I’m not surprised. 

My first day my co-worker told me to ‘fight him’ if I have any problems with his anti-feminist banter. (He had said the boss was ‘acting like a girl.’) I’m trying. He towers over me in height and mass, but I know that I am better than him, and I WILL put him in his place.

The truth is that I am barely ‘putting up with them.’ I try to call them out on everything they say, and then I try to remember it to record it here later. I think of what a better community I have back home than any they have. I am reminded again and again of how thankful I am for my influences.

Today I came pretty close to crying after some sick jokes. I tried to tell my co-worker how out of place he was, and he lashed back full force. All I can do is stand my ground, and make it clear that I’m offended without showing just how hurt I am. (I would deck one of them in the face before I let them see me cry.)

The Dudely Dudes are pitiable, and their language and thought portray a clear lack of depth to their characters. I fantasize that after working with me for so long, they’ll curb their tongues, if not change their minds. I don’t hope for this or expect it at all, but it keeps me going. 

Of course, part of it is that I just don’t have the energy to quit. It would mean seeking out another job in an abysmal economy, and this was the only bike mechanic position I could find in. the. whole. city. (I have literally been to all of them.)
I’m a fucking bike mechanic—and I will not be scared away from this profession until I am done with it.

Keeping up this blog is giving me a place to vent. Knowing that I can share what they’re doing is a fucking breath of fresh air after a long day. 
And the truth is that most bike shops are like this. Unless you see a serious challenge to the status quo (white, straight men) you can bet your fucking ass they’re just like the Dudely Dude Colleagues.  

I haven’t answered your question very well. I don’t know what I am doing here. I moved to this city as a home base for traveling, but it’s making me feel like I am trapped. 

Today my colleague(s)

…talked about ‘Chinks,’ and called the leaking water from a busted pipe in the ceiling ‘Chink shit’ because there is a Chinese family living over the store.

…laughed at being called ‘Pali Shit’ as an insult by children. (They did mean Palestinian. Why did you laugh, I asked? ‘Because it’s funny,’ they said.)

…told me his ID made him look like a rapist.
There were a lot of other rape jokes, (of course)… but I’ve forgotten them.

…joked about how the waitress at a family run restaurant looks like she experiences domestic abuse.
“It’s what makes the food so good,” he said.

…tried to tell me that racism (and so his jokes) are necessary to “keep people on their toes.”

Moving is hard; moving to a new country is harder. 

I’m having a lot of trouble getting through all the paperwork, and I keep getting sent back and forth for more paperwork/proof.

I am off for four days from the Undisclosed Bike Shop, but I had to go in today for forms.

After explaining my troubles my colleagues joked about me having so much trouble because of racism. To be clear: I am of mixed ethnicity but I look like (and for all intents and purposes here—live the life of) the average white girl. 

My co-workers know I’m mixed, and so to them it means that I will understand and appreciate their racist jokes (specifically anti-Asian) all the more. Because we’re all white here, right?

No matter how many times I say “hey, fuck you, that’s racist.” or “what do you think you’re doing?” they keep it up.

It’s like because I’m white I’ll jump right in with them to be more white?