Female-dominated workplaces........

This is now my 7th different working position in my relatively young working career. It would appear that I have bucked the usual trend regarding my managers. I have had a female manager/project lead at every single job I've had. I actually have liked every one of my managers except one. I find that female managers are very fair when you do your work well and reward accordingly. Also, they are generally pretty hard on people who do not do adequate work. The only manager I didn't like played favorites because they had a small core of workers who had been together for 15+ years, so she would reward them despite the fact that they weren't always doing quality work.

I'm now in a government job that is probably 85-90% female. Some obvious things stand out in this job when compared to other jobs. You probably know you're in a female-dominated workplace when.............

-Most of the workers have jackets or sweaters on the back of their chair to keep warm at work.

-Your boss takes you to meet one of your co-workers, you see that the person is shopping for shoes online at work, yet she doesn't even flinch to disguise it when her boss and you walk into the cube.

-No less than 250 romance novels are piled above the coffee maker in the kitchen. Anyone is allowed to take one and read it at their leisure.

-On the counter below the romance novels, old copies of Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies Home Journal are strewn all over the place.

-There are no due dates for any testing/projects. You just simply get it done when you can.

-Chatting for 30-60 minutes with your co-workers after arriving at work is commonplace.

-Playing joke videos on your computer with the speaker turned up is allowed, if not encouraged. Often, the noise and loud laughter encourages others to drop by and ask that the video be forwarded to them so they can watch it as well.

-Pictures of family are so numerous in cubes that it appears that they are wallpapered with photos.

-Free candy to snack on throughout the day is strategically placed at most printers so you can always grab some goodies after printing out each document.

-The men who have been working there for any length of time actually get excited about discussions involving flowerbeds.