Little Dude! Sarah Everton of Bleeding Rainbow on Coffee Shop Gender Junk
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
One more reason to love Bleeding Rainbow.
Today, singer/bassist Sarah Everton of music issue alums Bleeding Rainbow talks to Impose magazine about the ups and downs of her day job, working as a barista in a Kensington coffee shop. There are plenty of plusses about her decidedly non-precious place of work including a commute that clocks in at less than a minute, a prefect for touring flexible work schedule and being able to blast dissonant anti-coffee house music and/or Beyonce.
The downside? Well, aside from your run of the mill anonymous internet folks posting whiny Yelp reviews, there's the reality of being a female in the service industry. Everton explains: "As a woman working at a coffee shop or any customer service field you know what I'm saying. You get honey-ed, sweetie-d, sweetheart-ed like you're a waitress in a 1950's frat house diner on Wall Street and it's enraging. As if it isn't already enough to get hassled on the street during the one minute commute, you get condescended and infantilized with pet names by people who many times are your same age or thereabouts."
Of course, Everton has come up with a totally genius comeback for all of you ladies out there who are dead tired of being honey-ed: "The next time a grizzled, "harmless grandpa" or obvious pervert calls you sweetie, call him little dude. I don't want to typecast but I can usually see it coming, and I have gotten used to mentally preparing before saying, "Oh no problem, little dude!" any time a creepy man-child tries belittling me. It works well outside of work situations too. Anywhere entitled, sexist douche-wads stuck in a time warp exist, little dude can be implemented."
