Engineered for Life
Eileen Francisco
I have been in a male-dominated field all my life. I majored in engineering when there were only a handful of female engineering students at my university. I have worked with male engineers for 20 years, and continue to do so in my current position as Controls Manager at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
Working with men as I do, I have had to fine-tune several switches in the workplace. In order to be treated and heard as an equal, I have learned to be gracious and to overlook minor offenses. For instance, being the only woman present at board meetings, I have been addressed as part of the group of gentlemen …
Early in my career, I was promoted to the plant manager position of a company that produced aluminum and vinyl windows. A male coworker had been eyeing that job and was extremely disappointed when he lost out to me. Hoping to prove that I could not manage the factory, he generated a lot of gossip about me around the water cooler. This created much hostility between several workers and myself.
One afternoon, he behaved so obnoxiously towards me that I fired him on the spot. I put on a poker face and calmly dismissed him. But was I stressed out? Absolutely!
Nevertheless by firing an insubordinate employee, I gained the respect of my colleagues. After that incident, the employees and I got along just fine.
Love 'm, Leave 'em
Elizabeth Williams
I was only 9 years old when my American father left the Philippines for good. Perhaps it was this yearning for a father figure that made me think that marriage at 19 would make all things better. Of course I didn’t plan on getting pregnant before the ceremony. My best friends cried at the wedding, not for joy but because they thought I was committing a serious mistake.
After the ceremony, my husband Allen began drinking, womanizing, doing drugs and spending all night out with his buddies. Eventually, he became fascinated with witchcraft, and read many books on that topic. Worse, Allen developed a habit of polishing his collection of guns and knives every night. By New Year’s Eve, I had had enough. We were sitting in our car outside his cousin’s house when I told him I was leaving him temporarily to think about our marriage.
Allen was furious and began arguing, trying to talk me out of leaving. As a last resort, he pulled a gun out from under the seat and asked one more time: “So have you made up your mind?”
When I said “Yes,” he pointed the gun at his chest and fired.
I think he had really meant to kill himself, but chickened out at the last moment, and shifted aim to hit his shoulder instead. I was so shocked I couldn’t even scream. I was literally unable to speak for three days after that.
Copyright ©2006 Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc.
