I work with my partner in the home repair and improvement industry. It is our business; our livelihood and we work side by side. We also have friends in the plumbing and general contracting business. We network and help each other out on jobs when needed and as a woman working in a traditionally male industry I have learned a few things.

I have learned that plumbing parts may sound like sexual references, however they are actually quite innocent. For instance, a cock hole cover; The name is derived from the English, "cock" which means tap or water faucet and when you have an extra hole in your sink you cover it.

Brass and galvanized nipples, which are short pieces of pipe threaded on each end with sizes varying from 6" down to what is called, "closed", which is a 1" piece of pipe threaded from one end to the other.

The last of this short list are the ballcocks, these are the balls in your toilet tank that trip the fill valve to start or stop filling the tank with water. Using the English derivative of "cock", the ballcock is quite logical. The ball turns the water tap on or off.

I have also learned that the men working in plumbing supply stores enjoy having women order these parts. Maybe it is the nostalgia of a woman in the man's industry or maybe it is the words coming from a woman's mouth. The smiles I get when I order brass nipples, cock hole covers, and ballcocks are sheepish, cocky (no pun intended) and sometimes the men even blush! All I can do is smile.

It does become difficult having to be "one of the guys" day in and day out. I have always been kind of a tomboy growing up, but I had my girlie moments. Working with men, I hear their male conversations; listen to their thoughts on women and soul digging discussions. Some of it is rather interesting, some of it is boring and some of it is crude. I also get put on the spot sometimes as the "why do women?" expert.

One question that is asked of me is "Why do women dress scantily and then get upset if we look at them?" I try to explain that not all women dress for men. Sometimes women dress that way so that they feel good about themselves; it is kind of a self-motivation push. This will generally lead into further discussions on the male vs. female code of conduct, but that is a whole other article.

Back to women's dressing, it seems that when the men show their appreciation with a nod or smile, men would appreciate at least acknowledgement of the compliment by a smile or nod in return. So women, make a man's day and the next time you are nodded or smiled at, smile and nod back then go about your business.

Another thing is that men are just as confusing as women. A man wants a self-confident woman, one who can take care of herself, yet they also want a woman who is reliant on him. Men love to have their egos boosted too. Praise them about their work and they glow! Praising a man's accomplishments or work is like praising a women's appearance or accomplishment.

I have learned that being a man is really not that different than being a woman. Men have expectations that they are forced by society to achieve as do women. The expectations are just different, but the battle to live up to what society dictates a man to be is there. What I found interesting is that while women are striving to be what society portrays we should be, our men are generally happy with who we are and just want us to be happy with ourselves as well.

Special Note to Women... Men may not praise you too much at home, but let me tell you, get two men together and the praise for their girlfriend/wife just flows. I didn't realize that there were so many perfect, gorgeous, women out there.