In case you didn’t know, men and women work together. And if you really didn’t know, men and women are different. You see, women menstruate and their bodies do weird things that I, as a man, will never fully understand. Meanwhile, men are just generally stupid.
Hey, here’s a story about a woman menstruating and a man being stupid.
A user by the name of ‘Snuffalo’ (that’s a Buffalo that likes to snuggle) posted a story about how she was experiencing “horrible menstrual cramps” and needed a hot water bottle in her lap. This sounds terrible and why did God do this to women?
Anyway, the story takes a disturbing turn from there.
My sort-of-supervisor* we’ll call Guy comes over to talk to me about something, notices the hot water bottle, says “there’s no way you’re cold today, are you?” I say “um, no, just for the pain relief”. He looks confused and then literally horrified and then he walks away.
Maybe she was cold. Shut up, Guy. And if she says it’s for pain relief, that’s a good enough answer. You reply, “Can I get you anything?” she politely says, “I’ll be ok” and you go about the rest of your day. That’s how this story should have ended.
That’s not how this story ended.
Less than ten minutes later, I get a Slack message from one of the HR admins (HR is based in another office a few hours away) to say “Guy says you’re not well and should go home, everything OK?”
I say “I’m fine, this is sort of weird, he just looked a bit shocked that I had a hot water bottle, I’ve got cramps, you know how it is.”
She goes silent and then offline completely, ten more minutes later, the HR Director calls me and asks me if I can find a meeting room, which I do. She then tells me that I shouldn’t disclose my medical problems to anyone who isn’t part of HR as it can make them uncomfortable. I’m literally shocked, I explain exactly what happened, she says “yes I understand, if you’re so unwell you need a hot water bottle you should be home, Guy is extremely uncomfortable and it’s unprofessional”. I say “this is weird, ok, anything else”? She’s quite breezy and professional – “No, that’s all, if you’re feeling better that’s great but if you need to, please do go home, OK bye!”
The part I want to know is, who was the HR lady describing as “unprofessional” in the line “Guy is extremely uncomfortable and it’s unprofessional”? Was Guy being unprofessional because, well, he was being unprofessional. Or was Snuffalo being unprofessional for sticking around while not feeling well? I just need to know if I should be mad at the HR lady as well as Guy.
The story went viral on Twitter.
People menstruate, Guy.
Imagine being so immature that you complain to HR about someone on their period 😫 pic.twitter.com/53LWog94ED
— emilie 🐿 (@anygirlfriday) July 12, 2017
I've got some f**k off big sanny pads I can throw Guys way. Proper maternity pads.
— Our Rach (@ourrachblogs) July 12, 2017
It seems that HR's behaviour is worse.. like, they chose to stick up for him?!
— Lucy B (@LinuxLucy) July 12, 2017
THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING LUCY!
Holy s**t! Fine, HR, I'll take 5 fully paid days off a month to bleed in the comfort of my own home.
— Catherine Rooney-Ward (@Rooneroo) July 12, 2017
One of the guys I used to work with would offer to get hot water bottles for us.
— Amanda (v) 🔶🇺🇦 (@madasbof1) July 13, 2017
Chivalry is not dead.
This is all I’m saying about this story as I am uncomfortable writing about it.
[Image: Flickr/nrk44]
Just sounds like another story made up specifically to go viral and cause outrage. Kind of like the fake restaurant receipts with nasty comments in the Tip section.