I was talking to a young woman the other day, and she wanted to know if I really fixed furnaces and air conditioning units.
I told her I could, but I seldom took on a job unless they called the house and made an appointment. She asked for my business card, but I had none. I freelanced as an HVAC repair person, and never said I was an HVAC technician. She said she knew someone who told her I was an HVAC technician. I wanted to know who told her that, but I didn’t want to sound aggressive. I had heard this before. She gave me a name, and it was one I knew well. I called my sister when I got home and asked her why she was telling people I was an HVAC technician? She chuckled and only said that I was. I was in another lifetime, but I gave it up five years ago. I only worked on HVAC systems for my family. I had differences with one of my coworkers, and I was the one who was in trouble. They told me I was a troublemaker, and I had to go, so I left that day. I missed working in an HVAC company, but this was something I couldn’t help. I couldn’t change that I was a woman, but I could change where I worked. Unfortunately, my boss told all the local HVAC company owners that I was trouble, because he took the word of a male HVAC technician over me. He said I was flirting and taking all the simpler repair jobs, by promising I would go out with the men, but I never went through with the promises. I was engaged and didn’t need that kind of gossip and hatred following me around.