Crusty Old Men (Day 3)

I have often worked in fields that expose me to lots of crusty old men. I don't have a precise definition for crusty old men, but generally they are part of a good ol' boys network, insular, and not terribly friendly to women. Historically, I've had fairly good success with dealing with these types of people. For example, my editor at the Los Angeles Times was widely regarded as quite crusty. I always found him fairly complimentary and helpful, if not a bit gruff. At the end of my time there, another editor who sat nearby commented that she had never seen this guy be so nice to someone.


When I worked for the State of New Mexico, I spent a good amount of time in a car with a crusty old man, driving down to stakeholder meetings in the south of the state, and counseling him on how I felt the meetings were going. Basically trying to get him to be less crusty and stand-offish. There were definitely times that I had trouble handling him, which seemed to be isolated PTSD-ish incidents. But in general, I lasted longer in his company than most employees.


Recently I attended an annual meeting of an association of mechanical engineers. 95% male, I was told. I was able to meet a number of crusty old men working in the water conservation arena. Shortly after this meeting, one of the men I met emailed one of my co-authors on a paper to complain about how he had not been interviewed for it. (It was a literature review.) I was miffed that although I was the first author and I had just met him, he had not emailed me. My co-author (a self-proclaimed crusty old man) told me to give the crusty old men a break.


After a phone call with said crusty old man today, he again emailed my co-author to ask for a document. Naturally, I responded. His "thank you" email contained his signature with the following quote (which was interestingly not attached to the previous email he had sent my co-author):

"There are three things I like about Italian ships.  First, their cuisine, which is unsurpassed.  Second, their service, which is quite superb.  And then – in time of emergency – there is none of this nonsense about women and children first."  Winston Churchill (on why he prefers Italian cruise ships to British cruise ships)

Now I realize he probably thinks this is funny in light of the recent cruise ship tragedy (although a sense of humor in regards to that is questionable), but I just don't see how this is appropriate in a work setting. Yes, he does work for himself. But really? I don't think I have to buy the whole "women and children" chivalry to find this somewhat offensive. But at least it gives me ammunition for continuing to asses his nature as a crusty old man. I don't intend to give them a break - giving them a break perpetuates the ongoing anti-female nature of these fields.