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.

I refused to carry mine around as it was too heavy for me. None of my (male) colleagues had ever come across this issue before and were quite shocked that I found it too heavy. They sort of ignored the problem for a few weeks but when they realised I was deadly serious, I was bought a SurfacePro which I happily carry around in my handbag. I keep a charger at home and one at work plus have my old laptop on my desk just incase I forget my surface.

It's amazing how people just don't realise that we are all different

Sorry, what's your solution?
To make laptops smaller / lighter? They've been going that way for years, and it's hardly your employers fault.
To not give laptops to women / small women? Imagine the uproar!
Really think you're harsh and unreasonable calling your colleague a twat.

Your employer should be providing DSE (display screen equipment) assessments which include the use of laptops (both in an office environment and at home) and carrying them around. If problems are identified they need to address them and provide adjustments (eg suitable backpack, extra power cable to leave at home). If you can't resolve it with that and suffer physical symptoms, ask for a Occ Health referral.

It's no different to providing special mice to people with wrist problems, or adjustable chairs for people with back issues.

Deydo, I think her solution to her colleague being unsympathetic would be, I dunno, her colleague saying 'Oh dear, I didn't even think what it's like for smaller people' instead of 'come off it, it's not that bad'.

Sorry, what's your solution?
To make laptops smaller / lighter? They've been going that way for years, and it's hardly your employers fault.

Well perhaps employers shouldn't introduce working conditions that compel their staff to carry an extra 2kg of weight to and from work? Like in the old days when they had desktop PCs and staff weren't expected to take their work equipment home overnight.

Another derailing scenario. A female colleague of mine climbs with another colleague who is male. She says she just can't reach the next hand hold thing (technical term), he asks how come/why not? Because it's too damn far away for her arm. "I just don't understand how you can't reach it", because he can reach it.

I'm not deaf but I can empathise that certain situations make life difficult for a deaf person, sake for blind, dyslexic, wheelchair-bound people.

No I'm not comparing women to disabled people or that women are weak, nor am I suggesting that men cannot empathise, what I am saying is that the OP has expressly reiterated that the rant was about minimising her experience of something that bothers her a bit. It's not life altering to have to carry a heavy laptop around (but it could be). Sometime we just want to answer and not have to explain further or defend a response.

A boss one confided to my about his problems at home, in my work frame of mind as his assistant I set about finding a solution, he told me all he wanted to do was have someone listen for a moment, he was going through a tough time (and yes I suggested professional help as I'm not a therapist and it was not my job to be his therapist but I was his friend), maybe the OP's colleague could have just thought about it for a moment and gone "that's rough, I had no idea that the weight of a laptop could be such a daily pain in the shoulder/back".

As PPs say I hope you can escalate and get a risk assessment and/or a lighter laptop OP. Maybe this encounter and this thread will mean you won't suffer and have it result in any back issues.

OK he wasn't exactly brimming with empathy, but I don't think the rage and need to tell someone to fuck off is an appropriate response to:

"come off it, you are not much smaller than me."

I completely get it, OP. It’s not the laptop, it’s the complete blindness of your colleague to an experience even slightly different to him. DP sometimes does the same; and he doesn’t even realise it. It’s just that as a white, straight, mid-30s, tall slim man, the world around us has basically been created with exactly him in mind and so he rarely comes across these barriers. To his credit, he realises this most of the time and can empathise with others’ experiences,”.

You weren’t expecting your colleague to fix your problem, you weren’t even wanting to kick off massively; you just wanted him to not completely dismiss your experiences, and then when he did, you wanted to come on here to have a little moan to like minded feminists. I don’t know why some posters are being so hostile to you.

OP - your colleague is an arse. I'd have had to tell him that life isn't all about him, people are different. He sounds a joy to work with.

FWIW - I had a trolley case once. I damaged my back severely when lifting into the car. Again some people scoff at that & think I'm making it up.

In your shoes I'd be tempted to contact your boss/HR & tell them you need either more than 1 laptop or an occupational health assessment.

He is actually a nice guy. Not arrogant but just patronising a bit sometimes. And on this occasion, patronising quite a bit! Practically patted me on the head!

I'm not sure that posters are being rude - you have posted this in feminism and whilst it is recognised that many things in the world are designed for men, I'm not sure that carrying a laptop is a feminist issue and it's a bit of a stretch to try and make it into one!

It seems you have some challenges with various injuries/ health problems which makes this particularly challenging for you, but that doesn't make laptop-carrying a general feminist issue and it's a bit weird to try and make it one. Perhaps speak to occupational health if you think it's a particular problem for you?

Carrying laptops is a feminist issue. Laptops and their carriers have, like the rest of the world, been designed to suit a 70kg 5' 8" male frame.

Women do not have a male frame yet are expected to use equipment designed for some with that frame who has 40% more or thereabouts more upper body strength to them.

This causes women problems which, as OP describes, are completely dismissed or minimised if women try to raise them.

OP, the suggestion about requesting a charging cable to keep at home is a good one. They do add extra weight. Also about requesting an OH assessment - if carrying a laptop is aggravating your existing injuries or illnesses there should be provision for you to leave it at work, or a lighter model provided if you have to take it home, or another device for you to use at home.

It's bloody annoying that women have to ask for their needs to be taken into account at every turn though.

Sigh. Not about my challenges it is about assuming the world is the same for everybody as it is for him. Carrying a laptop is not a feminist issue. But minimising a woman's opinion is.

Bowing out of this thread.

Thanks for some of the suggestions about lap top bags etc. Thanks also to the majority who get it.

Well at least you know what to get him if you have an office Secret Santa (a copy of Invisible Women, of course!).

I bought new scales today (because I am a super cool person) so I just weighed my laptop out of curiosity piqued by this thread.

It weighs 1770g. I've no idea if that's relatively light or not compared to other laptops. But I know it's not as heavy as the bag I take to work every today that contains my make up, notebook, and lunch.

They've been going that way for years, and it's hardly your employers fault.

It is her employer's fault that they didn't buy lighter laptops though and that they insist on staff carrying them around.

OP, are you expected to work at home on the laptop too? I would leave it at work if not, and if you are, I would say you'll work on your home machine and transfer files on a suitable password protected device.

Laptops and their carriers have, like the rest of the world, been designed to suit a 70kg 5' 8" male frame.

Laptops haven't been designed for men - they have been reducing in size and weight since they were first invented. If they were designed for men they would have stopped the miniaturisation process as soon as they were acceptable for men.
However, OPs company could be guilty of not taking women into account when purchasing - smaller, lighter laptops tend to be more expensive, and if they bought heavier laptops for cost reasons, that would be a feminist issue.

I find it interesting that, even on this board, some people have problems thinking analytically.

It’s just “ well doh your employer does not make laptops so its not their fault so quit moaning “. .

And unless a policy has the word “woman “ in it, it must be “ gender neutral “ ( by which of course they mean sex neutral) .

OP

I totally got the point of the thread.

It's not that the laptop and bag are heavy.
It's that a man who is bigger and stronger than you has no issues so he assumes you who is smaller and does not have the same natural strength shouldn't have issues either.

Its is lack of insight. It's his I'm alright Jack male attitude that's bloody annoying.

I had similar. Fit able bodied men not getting carrying a laptop can be hard. I got 2, one to leave at home and one for work as a reasonable adjustment.

I had this with DH. I had complained that I was struggling to carry my laptop and he made fun of me as he had no problem carrying his.

DH is private sector with wildly expensive, very thin MacBook thing. I am public sector, ancient brick laptop.

He carried my bag for me once and was horrified by how heavy it was. Somehow me saying it was heavy wasn't enough, it was only when he carried it that he would believe me.

I now have a smaller, lighter laptop but don't carry the charger with me due to the weight, which means I sometimes have to borrow one at work. The men in my team seem to think I'm horribly lazy but again, they have no problem carrying a heavy bag as they are both a foot taller than I am and much younger.

Its shit he minimized your issue

but have you thought of a kanken, i have one, it's so light, and good for commuting. A bag for life will make you off balance and worse I would have thought

The evolution of laptops hasn't been a linear path of miniaturisation though.

I was very happy with my teeny tiny netbook until the rest of the world became HDMI/wifi crazy (what's happened to all the VGA cables, I wonder?) and had to buy a bigger one.

Women tend to carry more around with them than men. I don't think I've ever seen a man carrying a bag to work unless it's directly related to work ie a laptop or papers. Women tend to carry a bag regardless of whether they're going to work or not (our purses are heavier and bigger than wallets, most women carry sanitary protection etc) and are more likely to pick up children or go to the supermarket immediately from work (statistically speaking, women do the bulk of childcare/food shopping).

The whole concept of it being easier to be lugging a laptop around rather than having a separate device at home is based on male behaviour norms ie nothing much else to carry. It's generally much more suitable for women to have a device at work and a separate one at home as OP previously did.

My company did this some years ago & it caused real problems for colleagues (women!) in later stages of pregnancy, because laptops were heavy and bulky. They hadn’t thought of that ....classic invisible woman territory.

thehorseandhisboy oh god don’t get me bloody started on women and bags - DP used to take the piss out of me for always “lugging a massive bag around” everywhere we went; until I snapped and asked him who the fuck else would provide tissues, wipes, plasters, water, painkillers etc when needed out and about? Fucker would waltz out of the house with his wallet, phone and keys thinking I was being frivolous when actually it was that I had taken on that responsibility for providing everything else!