How do you know when you are an anomaly?
Ask your instructor how many women ramp agents there are out of over 100 rampers at your station and watch him count them on his fingers, like mine did.
"Ten," he said.
"Counting me?" I asked.
"No. You are eleven."
That might explain why almost every time our instructor introduced our group of four to fellow airline employees as ramp agent trainees, the response was something like this: a quick scan of the circle, eyes landing (briefly) on me, and then asking, "All of them?"
"Yep, all of 'em," my instructor, a former U.S. Marine, replied confidently, helping me stand taller.
Another way you know you're an anomaly is when you are greeted by a small group of new (male) co-workers and they don't know what to do with their hands when they greet you. Do they shake your hand? Give you a fist pump like the other three guys? Or do they just share eye contact and a head bob?
I got a combination of all three, sometimes all in the same round, making it awkward at times, and often requiring me to lead. If they were fist pumping, I made a fist and held it forward. If they were shaking, I held out an open hand. If they hesitated, I just smiled and said hello.
It'll take some getting used to, being one of the few smalls in unisex uniforms, for me and for my mostly male, size large co-workers. Like any new recruit, I'll have to prove my mettle, and show what I can (and can't) handle.
When all is said and done, a big reason I chose to work for Southwest Airlines was because they want their employees to be exactly who they are. Well, this is who I am now: a ramp agent, working at San Francisco International Airport.
I am a woman who loves the smell of jet fuel and the sound of jet engines.
My place is on the ramp.
(Photos-- above: Southwest Airlines Newsroom online photo of ramp agent; right--author at Terminal One Departures, SFO.)