Intern Chick

I've heard it over and over again for the past three years, "You have to have tough skin," "You have to have a thick exterior to make it out here." I always think of snake skin when I hear this phrase, I'm not even really sure why because upon further thought, snake skin sheds and is actually pretty thin. I do not have tough skin, at least, I don't think I do.

It's only fair to know this before you get in the game...it'd be like signing a contract with the NFL without knowing that you'd have to get tackled and be tackled in order to play. The problem is, how tough do you have to be? Where do you draw the line? And most importantly, who determines the acceptable thickness of my skin? Is there a set measurement that I should try to attain? How tough is tough enough?

I worked really hard on a small project today and around 4:00 I took a bathroom break only to find 2 girls standing outside one of the stalls talking to someone from the other side. "Great." I thought "Is someone throwing up in there? Because I really don't have the stomach for that..." Then it got silent and I heard small whimpers from inside the stall, and the other girls consoling her with the "Its okay" and the obligatory "I'm here for you." They left shortly after I came in the bathroom but the girl was still crying and I could hear her furiously typing away on her Blackberry. What could possibly be happening that you start crying at work? And if its that much of a crisis...why are you still here?!

I scurried out of there for fear of having to be in some awkward situation consoling someone who clearly wanted to be left alone. A little while later I noticed the girl crying in the bathroom was an assistant that sits pretty close to me. I heard her talking about how stressed she is and she wants to quit her job and you know, the usual ranting and raving one could expect from a disgruntled employee.

I couldn't help but think, does that mean she's not tough enough for this? This particular girl cries at work fairly often. Does it mean her boss thinks her skin isn't thick enough and that she just isn't cut out for this? I've never cried at work, but I'm not really a crier. There have been times where I may have wanted to, but I calm myself down before it escalates, because I don't want to be labeled the "cry baby" or seen as not tough enough. I tend to crumble when I don't do something perfectly, but in the grand scheme of things, I think thats minimal. I thrive under pressure because to me it means my boss trusts me with a lot and believes that I can get the job done. So maybe I am tough enough. Are you?