> I was surprised to feel relieved that she didn't actually text me.
Why?
Why?
Obviously, this is a dumb way to feel. But from what I've heard on HN and other places, this type of thing is starting to become more common. Men are starting to take precautions like never having a one on one meeting alone with a female coworker.
How much worry is the correct amount of worry? We only get to make one mistake before we're labeled and it follows us around the rest of our lives.
I think it’s mild paranoia. Don’t worry about it. As someone else said here, the best way is to pretend that you’re interacting with a male. Without the bro jokes..
You can't really pretend you're with a male, any more than women can pretend they're with a woman. I wish you could.
I used to be really tensed in public, and when I have to take a phone number from someone (networking event etc) I would fumble a lot, make all sorts of silly mistakes while feeling the intense pressure of the other watching me. Sometimes I give up, pretend that I’ve taken the details, and smile, half friendly, half apologetically. Then I’d go away feeling super bad.
Now I understand that it was silly to feel pressured in the first place. But you know, it happens.
>You can't really pretend you're interacting with a male
Well yes, with practice. Just how you learnt to overlook skin colour, height, dreadlocks etc, by understanding that we’re all fundamentally humans.
Can’t comment much about humour, I’m an ethnic minority so have the unusual advantage that some banters are forgivable ;)