A college grad arrived on his first day at work to report to his new supervisor, Saul.

Just before he arrived, Saul’s manager, Glenda, went to their admin’s desk and sat down to jot down a note. Just then the college grad arrive with a big smile, eager for his first day.

“Hi,” he said to Glenda. “Is Saul in?”

“Yes, he’s in his office,” she politely responded.

“Would you tell him I’m here?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said smiling. She was going to head past his office on the way to hers.

“I guess you’re the admin, huh?” he said beaming with excitement.

“Actually, no, I’m Saul’s boss.”

The poor kid almost passed out, went ten shades of pale, groaned, stammered. He was sure he was about to be fired on his first day. Glenda just got up, chuckled, and headed back to tell Saul his new hire was here. She kind of liked him.

Do we too often “Assume”?

On a linked in group, a women engineer started a discussion about how she’s tired of the computer science world where men treat her rudely, make inappropriate comments, etc.

One fellow posted a comment. He said he was about to graduate with a BS in Engineering and he wanted to be sure he “treated the girls they way they want to be treated.” Ho boy. Did he get an earful about the proper way to address a “woman”. He was confused. “But you call us ‘guys’, isn’t it OK to call you girls?”

“No,” the answer quickly came back. “Would we call you a ‘boy’? What’s important is equal treatment. If you call yourselves ‘men’, call us ‘women’. If you want to be the ‘guys’, then we can also be part of the ‘guys’ or ‘gals’ but not, not ‘girls’.”

The poor lad was quite concerned. “Gee,” he commented. “I’m not even out of college and already I’m making tons of mistakes.”

“No worries,” they said. “Just pay attention and treat us equal. I’m sure you’ll do OK.”