The College Perspective by Lindsey

The fluorescent lights suck the life out of workers and customers that walk along the dusty concrete floor, looking at racks of power tools, lumber, screws, appliances, paint, and cleaning supplies.

Meanwhile, red plastic carts squeak along, one rusty wheel struggling to catch up with the others while customers rush to get into my line.

I wear the tacky mesh red vest with the blue house logo for Lowe’s, the mecca for home improvement junkies and contractors alike. Like most retail jobs, there are a lot of aspects that suck, but one, in particular, stands out to me: sexual harassment.

As recently as May of 2018, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that out of 85,000 charges, over 13.4 percent were made in the retail industry, second only to accommodation and food services.

Because of my age and gender, I am susceptible to a variety of sexual comments that plague many of my fellow female coworkers in the retail business. Men of all ages and occasionally women find it appropriate to comment on my looks, inferring things about me because of how I look on the outside.

One day, an older male coworker tells me, standing maybe two inches away, “Your pants look pretty tight. Are they hard to get into?” Thinking himself funny, he laughs as my face turns red and I do my best to defend my clothes. Another day he proclaims he can see certain “things” because my pants are so tight, continuing to say that I’m flaunting it in my jean capris and t-shirt. Several other women my age have filed complaints against this man for similar comments, but nothing has happened as of yet.

A male customer comes through my line, seemingly ordinary. He’s older, dressed in a button-down shirt and khakis. The kind of man you would see at church or next to you in line at the grocery store. After asking my age he loudly proclaims, “Well you’re certainly old enough. You know I’m not a cheap date but I am pretty easy. What time do you get off work?” Also finding himself the funniest man alive, he laughs and looks for confirmation from his friend beside him. I laugh along to avoid the awkward alternative.

Another male coworker considers himself a nice guy but does not take no for an answer. Every new female hired at Lowe’s is told the same thing: Don’t talk to this man, or tell him you have a boyfriend, even if you don’t. He will try to hit on you no matter what.

I was hired over a year ago, but have yet to find an end to the not-at-all subtle attempts from this man to try to get me to go out with him. He will fake depressive episodes. He will ask me to movies. He will invite me to go to the mall with him. Even though I have often and loudly proclaimed I have a boyfriend, this does nothing for him.

He has no concept of personal space as well, often trying to high five me, pull on a strand of my hair, and hug me, once going so far as to trap me into a corner with no explanation as he moved closer.

Female coworkers call me a dick magnet because of all of this attention like I’ve asked for it or wanted it in some way. I think it’s easy to tell that I just want to get my paycheck and leave.

This is the growing problem in many retail stores across the country. Women are often subject to awkward interactions where they feel they cannot report or are not heard when they do. Several of my female coworkers feel disempowered when they take a problem like a sexual comment to the HR department, only to see their harasser return to work the next day without a reprimand or punishment of any kind.

In fact, all employers are held liable for creating or allowing a hostile work environment for their employees, especially in the case of sexual harassment. Every employer is required to have not only a written policy against such treatment but also physical evidence of educating employees of the policy.

Employers are also expected to reasonably protect their employees from harassment by supervisors and customers in particular. If they have any knowledge of such treatment, they are expected to respond with appropriate measures. Employers must thoroughly investigate all complaints of sexual harassment whether it is through in-person interviews, witness reports, or video footage of the incident.

In any case, according to the law, employers are liable for any sexual harassment by supervisors or customers/clients and are expected to handle it fairly. In reality, many companies have loopholes that protect them from liability, including the loose definition of supervisor in business settings. Harassment by fellow employees is not held to the same scrutiny as those in elevated positions.

Some people may say the abundance of this problem is simply evidence of a victim mentality, that women have to be louder and demand a better workplace, yet it equally affects the verbal women, the ones who aren’t quiet, who don’t try to take up less space to please others.

Sydnee Schnell, a fellow coworker, is only 22 years old but is very vocal about fair treatment. Recently, after a new hire called her “fat” and a “bad trainer” for simply directing him in how to accomplish a task, she took the issue straight to HR. The offending employee returned to the floor later with a reprimand but no punishment.

This issue doesn’t even disappear when you’ve worked at the store for over ten years and have a management level position. Beth Vandiver, a head cashier at Lowe’s, angrily recounted the time a man felt like he could comment on her appearance. “He said I must be either brave or crazy to let my gray show through. I didn’t know how to respond. Who the hell says that?”

Some might say, maybe correctly, that women are overreacting to these comments. Maybe these men are kidding, they grew up in a different time with different standards, or this is just the world we live in. Women should take it as a compliment.

If you think about it though, how many times do you hear comments of that nature directed at men, in a retail position or otherwise? You just don’t.

I may just be young and working in a retail position and should accept these comments as part of the job and move on, but I feel like society should be called to a higher standard. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, women are finding a voice for the problems they’ve been dealing with for years, and maybe it shouldn’t stop with celebrities or political figures. Maybe we should hold regular people to the regular old standards of respect and decency. But that’s just me. A 21-year old “pretty” college student. Maybe in the next life, I’ll be a man.