Story Time...

I know I said I was going to write a blog about racism, and I will, but first I want to tell another story.

This is not about me (and about two sentences is, you'll realize it couldn't POSSIBLY be) and I was inspired by a Twitter thread about Women in Science/Tech which made me recall a convo I had recently with an amazing woman.  So here, to the best of my ability to share it, is her story.

Once upon a time there was a little girl.  She was middle of three children born to first generation German immigrants.  Her sister, the eldest, excelled in crafting and is an amazing seamstress.  Her brother, the youngest, excelled at tech, and is highly respected in his field.  The middle daughter discovered early on that she had an aptitude and passion for mechanics.  Her father began to impart his vast knowledge to her and she soaked it up like a sponge.  While part of her mechanical passion revealed itself in clock/watch repair, the main outlet for her skills became bicycles.  By the age of 11, she was collecting and repairing orphaned bicycles during the long Chicago winter and selling them from her driveway in the summer.  Many people were impressed by her abilities, but she faced bullying from people who did not think it was 'right' or 'proper' for a girl to be so interested in a predominantly 'masculine' discipline and that she should focus her energies on other, more feminine interests.  Even her family (a particularly difficult aunt, specifically) railed on her and criticized her parents for encouraging her.  Thankfully her mother told said aunt to 'get bent' or something to that general effect (I am paraphrasing of course - good German ladies do not say 'get bent').

Fast forward many years and this highly intelligent and motivated woman opened up a bicycle shop in the city she had moved to.  Over the past 9 years (the shop opened in 2008) she has moved locations 4 times (due to landlords/location) and each shop has gotten bigger and/or more professional.  People still don't always realize that she is the owner and lead mechanic, but she doesn't necessarily mind.  It's still rare to have a female mechanic of any sort, and a female business owner is liable to face discrimination and harassment.  However, word of mouth travels, and other bicycle shops in town will now send customers to her if the repair is complicated or requires more than just changing out parts.  She will work on any age of bicycle, the older the better (as they were typically built with higher quality and will last much longer than new bikes).  She has had customers come to her shop from other states, because she will work on their foreign or vintage bicycle.

She is definitely not your average woman, and that makes her exceptional in my mind.  She did not back down - from bullies, from her family, from societal conventions, and has become the master of her trade.  She is an example to women (and men) who operate outside the status quo that when you follow your passion, you can achieve so much more than you or anyone else can imagine.