I work as a machinist. It’s an environment that is very dirty, hot, and oily, with men making up about 90% of the workforce.
There’s a homophobic vibe where you feel like your private parts are always being seen or caught looking at someone else’s. Every little hole in the bathroom stalls around the plant gets plugged with toilet paper… The folks who do shower in the open-bay room (6 heads) don’t turn on the vents because the switch also controls the lights.. I wouldn’t dream of showering there since it’s not cleaned properly…
We had one trainee on my line, a transsexual guy named Micheal who wanted us to call him Emily. At the time, he’d only been taking hormones for six months. Every day he came in wearing dark bra and panties under his white T-shirt… The other guys thought he was just begging for a discrimination lawsuit.. We all tried to keep things professional around him but somehow he’d always manage to stir up confrontations..
(For instance, He was wearing rubber gloves and when he took them off, He tried squeezing the sweat that had pooled inside over another worker’s head… I caught his eye and said “Don’t do it” … Everyone turned to see what he was about to do… He laughed as if it were a big joke… He nearly got hit for it.. I started writing up the paperwork for attempted assault.) .. Yes, I am in charge of a line that produces 30MM rounds for A-10s.
Sorry, went off track there. But if people spot any little difference from what is considered normal appearance, you become the butt of the jokes.. There’s no way I would let anyone know I’ve been wearing a Stainless Steel Cage..They don’t notice or can’t tell by looking. I wear a uniform and have checked myself in the mirror several times. I will still wear it and it hasn’t changed me as far as i can tell…
So All in all, I can’t let the people know .. Don’t think they would mentally grasp what it feels like to wear a cage..Does anyone work somewhere that is a bit more understanding or accepting of wearing a cage?