Sunday, April 28, 2013

No, it's not funny. And stop touching me. (Guest post)

Our reader TBB shares:

The clinic where I (TBB) currently work has a consistent raunchy atmosphere when not
in the presence of clients. The camaraderie and the laughs associated with jokes makes
our soul-sucking job tolerable after the fifth euthanasia of the week. And while in most
work places, this is probably harassment, the truth of the matter is that the jokes save
our sanity. And really, the comments about shaving balls while prepping for a neuter are
always funny. Semen collections are even better.

I don’t appreciate the same behavior from clients. Somehow the fact that we work with
animals makes the filters on our client’s mouths disappear. I have never worked in a job
where so many complete strangers say horrible, dirty things to me. I’m not the only one
either- most techs I know have similar stories.

No one questions the procedure if a doctor has to do a prostate exam on a man- yet I
am constantly bombarded with comments from clients of both sexes regarding which
human will have their temperature taken next. And honestly, I really didn’t want to know
that the last time daddy tried that on mommy he didn’t use enough lube so every time
mommy tried to poop the next week, she bled. Collecting urine also comes along with
a set of comments on how we collect urine, if we need help ‘holding’ or if we would just
like some of the owner’s urine instead.

Restraining animals in exam rooms is apparently also an invitation for owners to get a
little love. All too often, the male owners use petting their dog as an excuse to grope my
breasts. I have seriously considered wearing Kevlar to work, and have compromised on
multiple sports bras and an undershirt in an attempt to look flat chested. I’m not sure if
owners think I won’t notice that they’re petting me and not the dog, or if they just don’t
give a damn.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I’d get fired if I stood up and decked the next guy to give it
a try.

5 comments:

  1. It would really be bad, if you're a guy & they're groping you. :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would your boss be supportive if (s)he knew this was happening? If I were your boss and you came to me with this, I would fire the client(s). And if it were so pervasive that firing the clients would put me out of business, I would change the work flow so that all the restraint happens away from the clients.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We had a doctor once who liked to grope the lady techs. One of them grew weary of this and she gave his luggage a little squeeze back. Lifted him right off the floor, she says. No witnesses, so I'll take her word for that. Certainly wouldn't take his.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had a doctor once who liked to grope the lady techs. One of them grew weary of this and she gave his luggage a little squeeze back. Lifted him right off the floor, she says. No witnesses, so I'll take her word for that. Certainly wouldn't take his.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We had a client that was extremely inappropriate to our receptionist this week, asking about her husband's ability to perform in the bedroom. I told her that we will be sending out a letter informing him that we are terminating our relationship with him. That is NEVER acceptable. I will never allow one of our staff to be treated poorly by a client. I will take a second job at McDonald's to pay the staff if our clientele takes a huge dive because of it.

    ReplyDelete