u/DoxxDeezNutz

Longtime lurker here. I've been browsing this subreddit for a good while now since after seeing the world for how it is. This is in regard to employment, where most of us are all kinda screwed. But here's my story.

I'll start off with saying that I most recently used to work with animals. Loved them as if they were my own, treated them all as such, and demonstrated great empathy with sad/scared owners of said animals. I wasn't even offered the chance to explore this until my early twenties, as I was too busy moving every other year with my broken family, working shitty landscaping jobs, delivering pizzas, warehouse work, etc. And as soon as I turned 18, I was expected to pay half the rent of a shitty falling apart house my single mother had no reason to rent in the first place.

I was basically told to say "fuck my dreams, forget college, no time to find yourself, get to work". Basically the opposite of what most women will ever have to deal with in this day and age.

A few years back, getting kicked out of the house (because I put my foot down), all my hard work, stress, moving back and forth across the country on my own, nearly dying in one instance, being lied to, starving myself, working 7 days a week, etc. appeared to have paid off.

I began working at a large animal clinic (horses, donkeys, etc.) where I excelled, and was actually valued. If there was a female-dominated unicorn job, this would qualify as one. It was nightshift because da gurlz all have social lives, but at least I was still valued and got to do cool shit. It took me YEARS to get to that point, but had to quit due to manifesting health problems that I even had to go to the hospital for.

Some time after, I recovered, and began looking into daytime jobs, where I could work more with doctors outside of emergency surgeries and taking care of 8 dying horses, at the same time, alone, at 1 in the morning. After 40 automatically-rejected applications, it occurred to me that I would probably have to look closer to the Midwest to get a fair shake. Mind you, this is a female dominated field, where even my old clinic had "women's programs" and quotas despite being 99% women. So I figured that I'd have to go further west, because MAYBE more men would be doing what I did. Lo and behold, almost the entire equine hobby/medicine has been taken over by women because of a combination of men being pushed out/denied higher learning and guys being indoctrinated their whole lives to think working with animals is "gay" or "womanly". I refer to these types as "Uncle Toms". Ya know, they are programmed by society to work dirty essential jobs, but shit on men for wanting to do something else. Crabs-in-a-bucket mentality while they get high and drunk on the job to try to forget that deep down, they really hate their lives. THAT is "toxic masculinity" if there's such a thing. Another great product of feminism.

So anyway, after all of these rejections, I just began carpet-applying to anything adjacent to what I was doing. After probably 20 more auto-rejected applications, I got a dead-end interview at one small animal clinic (cats and dogs), and FINALLY an offer at another small animal clinic. In an entirely different state.

So I moved (AGAIN), and immediately began my training at this new clinic. I had to learn a new computer system, different techniques dealing with animals a fraction of the size I'm used to. The place was mostly women, but with 2 token guys, one of whom was just tall, and another who was the most unprofessional, emotional man I'd ever met. I was "trained" by the women. During the training, I was accused of taking too long to get a patient in a room because my trainer was talking about ANYTHING BUT THE PATIENT for 20 minutes after hijacking my job in there. Then, after a week, I was unceremoniously left to do things on my own.

So not being trained at all, one is bound to make mistakes. I'm surprised I didn't make more. But I basically taught myself whatever I did know. Of course I got shit for "not meeting expectations". I had to deal with a CONSTANTLY changing computer system, that no one ever told me was changing. I began to feel crazy with things moving around. Like I was being gaslit. And of course, it was all my fault for not knowing where brand new/renamed exam sheets were. I was constantly criticized on how I restrained feral cats and insane dogs. It was either too much restraint, or not enough. I Certainly did better than the women who would put their faces right up to anxious dogs and squeal in high pitched voices.

Surely, I was an asshole for pointing out that they weren't using the autoclave correctly, nothing was properly sterilized, and that they had been handing out long expired drugs as prescriptions, and using improperly stored lidocaine for dental procedures. Lidocaine is light-sensitive and will lose its efficacy when exposed to light. They had it in a clear rubber squeeze bottle on the counter. I guess I was "mansplaining".

I was a chauvinist for having a problem with THE MOST sexual harassment and inappropriate jokes I had ever witnessed in a workplace. And ALL of those sexual remarks were between the women assistants and sometimes women doctors.

I was privileged for basically being a therapist for one of the doctors because she was INSANE and ready to flip her shit at any given time. How she made it 30 years doing this, I haven't a clue.

Anyways, I was fired 2 months later. Pretty sure I saw my female replacement towards the end. I wasn't even really given any good reasons for my termination. I wish I had recorded all of the conversations. Because at the very end, I was told men aren't good multitaskers. We aren't as empathetic. We prefer "manly" jobs.

Of course it's a corporation-owned clinic, and when I called and left messages about complaints, no one ever got back to me.

As someone who scored 132 on an IQ test at 8 years old, cared for multiple patients all by myself in the past, and even had to teach a VET STUDENT how to fix an IV catheter after she had mixed medications and caused precipitation, and basically was a shoulder to cry on for countless people who lost their horses, I can squarely say FUCK YOU.

They sabotaged me. They torpedoed my career, and derailed my plans at going to college to be one of the few male veterinarians left. But we all know that I would have been sabotaged in school. But if I was lucky enough to make it through, I'd probably NEVER get an internship. Because women need it more.

You know who didn't meet expectations? Them. And this is for human medicine, too. Enjoy having an IV needle stuck 4 times into your skin and muscle before they hit a vein, God forbid you have to go to the hospital like I have. Good luck with anything where a woman is in charge.

So now, I'm struggling to even get a job cutting grass. I suspect it was because of my resume including my clinical background. The Uncle Toms probably thought I'd be too much of a "sissy" to push a mower for it. So I have now deleted that entire part of my life, and appear to have a 2-year work gap now. I guess it was fucking pointless anyway.

Anyway, sorry that turned ranty and angry. Feels good to say it out loud.