Just a rant, I am at work and need to vent.

[Sarcelle]

Just been issued with laptops at work which means carrying back and forth. About 5 years ago we had to do this, but they withdrew them after a few years when they put permanent devices on hotdesks with meant you could leave your laptop at home. So now we are back to schlepping back and forth with heavy laptops, albeit they are lighter than the ones used before. The old ones we had at home had to be returned so if you are in the office you need to bring your laptop.

I and most colleagues commute and of course it is cumbersome and you have to keep your eye on it.

One of my male colleagues, a caring sharing one, said how you getting on with your new laptop. I said the laptop was fine but a pain to carry back and forth. He said, its not too bad. I said it is if you are a smaller person, which I am. He said come off it, you are not much smaller than me. He is about a foot taller, a couple of stones heavier and his arm/reach is longer. Talk about seeing things from your own perspective, the minimising twat.

I had to leave my desk and type this out. Otherwise I am ready to tell somebody/anybody to fuck off.

And breathe.

Sorry, you sound like a problem seeker.

Lolly

How so?

I hate having to bring mine to and from work. The only positive is when I have to stay at home unexpectedly for any reason I don't need to put an emergency holiday, I can just log on and do my work. I look ridiculous walking in with millions of bags every morning, I could do without the laptop really. I also leave mine in my car boot every night, I can't face having to take everything out the car every night and put it back in every morning

I sympathise, I’m very small and laptops are a nightmare to carry

I'm very small and laptops are fine to carry.

That's nice for you lolly. Maybe OP's shoulders are narrower than yours, so shoulder straps don't work. The fact that you can manage doesn't mean op can. You understand that I'd guess?

Totally with you on this one OP, why aren’t you allowed to leave the laptop at work over night? Can you argue it’s a data security issue to have everyone carting around laptops all over the place? Taking a laptop to meetings or home for the odd night is one thing but expecting people to regularly shove them in gym lockers or take them to the pub with them for after work drinks is different.

Most backpacks are designed for the male frame and especially torso length/height. Had to get a v expensive walking rucksack with adjustable strap fixings as the otherwise perfectly acceptable cheaper ones were too long. Women are on average shorter and have proportionally longer legs/shorter torso than men.

Also weight - well built, average height male could comfortably be 100kg. Healthy average height female could well be 50kg. Weight of laptop, charger and associated gubbins could well be 2.5kg (more for bigger screen or bulkier (cheaper) options. I make that 5% of body weight- much more significant proportion than for a bigger person

DH sometimes brings a work laptop home.. it's massive. It's completely different to a personal laptop.
Also what one person finds heavy/bulky is completely different to what someone else finds heavy. Smaller hands, shorter arms, smaller frame... It all adds up. Even just being an inch or two shorter can make a difference.

I have back issues so work gave me two laptops - one for home and one for work. I had an OH referral to support this.

I have had to carry a laptop for work since the start of my career (audit 😴) and while it is useful to be able to work from home, it’s a right pain (in every sense!). I now use a rucksack although I hate that it doesn’t look smart. I had a trolley bag at one point but I stopped using it as I got sick of clients asking if I was going on holiday (ha bloody ha). Not a lot useful to add but I feel your pain!

I am usually office based now and I can at least lock the laptop in a locker/ desk drawers overnight which is handy although I usually take it home in case a sick child prevents me from coming into the office the next day.

I’m not sure this is a femenist issue. I can’t say I know of any woman to have commented about laptops being difficult to carry before this. Unless they’re unusually heavy I would think this would be more of an ability issue. Obviously people who are not very strong due to age or health problems/injury would struggle but not your average fit and healthy woman.

Agree completely.

It’s Ok if you’ve got a car but I’m on public transport and I refuse to lug one around. It’s not specifically the weight in itself, it’s just too awkward on the bus (busy, cramped) especially as there is enough to carry already including lunch etc. I also have to walk uphill from bus stop to work.

I used to have a SurfacePro in my last job, teeny thing but still a PAIN IN THE ARSE to carry in my bag when commuting on the train to London (plus taking in lunch, drinks or whatever other crap I need/want). Is there a locker you can keep it in so you don't have to take it home each night? This is what my DH's company do as they hot desk.

I'm sorry but this just seems silly.

I'm 5'2" and have carried a laptop daily for the best part of a decade, have never given it a second thought. Just hold it by the handle on the laptop case.

This is totally a feminist issue. Seem the laptops are fine for the average man to lug around, but not for the average woman. All the men involved think therefore there is no problem. Meanwhile the women are buying expensive backpacks/suffering/getting told they are being difficult

OP I share your rage. Where I work we all have to do desk risk assessment sheets everytime we move desks. Do you have anything similar?

My company has heavy laptops and they are a nightmare, and they do cause shoulder/back problems and a lot of female staff say they are far too heavy.

I drive to work so I don't have to lug it around with me on my commute. I do travel a lot though, and it's too heavy to bring with me if I need to carry it, and pulley trolley bags are not helpful in busy places either.

To resolve this, I no longer bring my laptop with me when I have to travel to meetings. It probably makes me less productive but if company want to address that they can bloody well pay for a laptop that is a suitable weight to be properly portable (for a woman, not for the default reference man, men have 40% more upper body strength than women, even if a man is the same size and weight, it's not comparable. Your colleague is an idiot).

If you develop any back or shoulder problems as a result of having to carry the laptop with you, then the employer is liable for that injury.

So, if you forget your laptop there are no desktops to use at work now? Yes we have this in our place too, I'm lucky I have a desk top (Which I refuse to give up) and a laptop for any meetings I need to go off site for. I feel your pain, and this is going to sound sexist but as a woman I carry my normal bag, packed lunch bag (as the place I work does not have a canteen) and also my laptop bag with any papers and items I need for the meetings so I do look like a bag lady at times.

Slight detail.

Ages ago there was a study on women carrying those heavy monthly magazines around, it showed how if you have a handbag on one arm and are not balanced (with a heavy magazine in the other) you can change the shape of your spine over time.

I have scoliosis so switched to a backpack and stopped wearing heels.

Laptops probably feature in Invisible Women but I haven't finished reading it yet.

HeresWally.. lol

OP massive sympathy with the back problem and totes agree with you and others here about your ridiculous colleague.

(Am I imagining it or are there loads of new posters on this thread? Which is great..waves..)

Have they done a risk assessment ? Was this done on, say people under 5’ 6” or who weight under 70kg or who have an injury or health condition ? Does this new rule also apply to staff with disabilities?

Because they are saying it’s now part of your job to carry this about. And take it on and off your back many times a day eg when you sit on a bus or tube. That a lot of lifting and twisting.

Did the risk assessment take account of other things you might be carrying eg power supply , paperwork, personal items like a handbag?

And of course they know ( because you have notified them in writing) that you have an injury and you are concerned that this new requirement will exacerbate it.

OP forgot to mention I had scoliosis too! Silly me. Just as well, some posters might also add that to my attention seeking crimes. People really are shitty to each others these days, aren't they. You see threads about it and think it is an exaggeration but from some of the comments on here you would think I was stomping around crying about a laptop. It was about a man minimising my experience of lugging a laptop around.

My original conversation with colleague wasn't a rant. He asked me how my new lap top was, I said fine etc apart from carrying around. He minimised my experience and that was why I ranted in here. Perhaps the posters in here who also show zero realisation that how others experience life and stuff is not how they do could forward their contact details and I will forward to colleague, house on fire and all that. (I am imagining quite a lot of Fatima Whitbreads walking around).

Audacity, now 5ft 2 but not at all silly) used to be 6 inches taller. But that decade carrying a laptop has reduced her to a mere 5 ft 2.

True. It's cost me a fortune getting my trousers shortened, I can tel you.