Daily Prompt: Trading Places

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a member of the opposite sex for a day? What do you think life would be like?

There have been many times that I wished I was male (a smart male, not like the ones that I am about to tell you about). Before I started writing, the jobs I held were mostly sales and managerial.

Women in the Car Sales Business…

Remember, this is taking place in the South. While some of the customers felt more comfortable dealing with a female, others would come in and want to speak with the “manager” because surely a lil lady- yes I have actually heard that phrase – could barely start a car much less know enough to sell one. OH, this is when I would get pissed.

I wanted to say look you backwards ass jerk, I know more about this car or truck than you ever dreamed of knowing.

Thank God I had a manager who could see my blood pressure rising and would step in not because I needed help but because I needed a moment to get it together to deal with Billy Bob and his Linda Lou (who just stood and smiled because she knew her place as his Ol Lady, he said this, YES out loud). REALLY? But, I had to remain focused on selling a car, not screaming at this woman. “What in the world is wrong with you? You let THIS half ass man degrade you?” I couldn’t think of what she must have gone through in the privacy of her home, if he was this big of a Jackass in public. OH well, back to selling, I am not a social worker.

It didn’t take long for the BB and LL to realize that I was not your ordinary lil lady. I take anything that I do very seriously and I have a mechanical knack with fixing cars. By the end, I had Billy Bob begging to buy a car from the lil lady who knew nothing about cars. And, I had him well aware that if he didn’t stop addressing my breasts instead of my face when he looked at me, we were going to take it to the parking lot and find out who the “Real Man” was. I was REALLY good at my job! I am sure that it didn’t, but I was hoping my standing up for myself might show LL a thing or two.

Then there was my boss, who was simply amazed that when a check engine light came on in one (or many) of the cars that he purchased, that I could diagnose the problem faster than his mechanic.

Oh lets not leave out the mechanic, who had the same backwards attitude as Billy Bob when he met me for the first time. But in just a few days, he would come and ask my opinion when he was stumped on installing a mass air flow sensor, oxygen sensor, or simply diagnosing a problem. He was a little bit – I use that term loosely- brighter than Billy Bob.

So yes, in the car business, some days I wished that I had male parts … because that would somehow have made me smarter. But most days, I loved being female and showing them just what this lil lady was capable of.