An Island of Testosterone...

I work in an office with four women. I am the only male in the room. All the other advisors at the school are female. Unfortunately, we don't have our own offices. We are in cubes in the same room. Students have to meet with us in the cubes. Sometimes our conversations drift out from the cubes and privacy becomes a problem. We are very good at closing our ears to students in distress talking to other advisors in their cubes. We are good at what we do-at least I like to think so. We are all professionals, who love our jobs and the students we come into contact with. But...I still feel someowhat alone in what I do.

I am an island of testosterone awash in a sea of estrogen. Every day the conversation in my office centers around "fun shoes" or "cute dresses." It also sometimes focuses on relationships...new boyfriends or new babies. I never hear any conversations about last weekend's game, power tools, or pickup trucks. There are days when I just want to eat with my fingers, not use a napkin, and burp really loudly. I want to be a man...around other guys...sometimes. Just so I can revel in my own guy behavior. I just have a hard time doing that in the office. The only guy I have regular contact with at this point is my four year old. He does like talking about trucks...albeit, they are his matchbox trucks. He does like to burp and pass gas, but we do have to teach him manners. His mom is really strong on the manners aspect. I have to go along with that...She's laid down the law that there is to be no "finger pulling" in our household.

It's not all bad. The woman who has the desk next to me, does drop the occasional F-Bomb
and the other women do let down their hair a couple of times a month. I can't say I don't enjoy myself with my coworkers. They took me flower picking in the city as a form of stress relief in the middle of the day a couple of weeks ago. We just walked around with a pair of scissors, snipping the occasional flower and cool looking plant in the downtown park and various downtown neighborhoods in Minneapolis. I was a little self conscious at the time, but I had a good time, feeling like the rogue lawbreaking flower picker-I had to give it a little male bad boy aura. Hey...if I get caught, I'll get in trouble with the cops-that sounds a little bit more macho, doesn't it???

We are getting a new advisor in the office. I'm hoping that it's a guy, but I guess it won't bother me if I have to go flower picking with one more woman. I'll get over it.