The Resolution

The next day I got called out of class to go see the Commandant. I figured this could be about anything; the bathroom incident, shower, my disrespect or perhaps he was just going to tell me to pack my bags and go back to my unit. It would have been a huge relief.

But that is not what he did. He was very apologetic about the whole shower incident but not so much towards me, it seemed. He explained that though they had assigned the bathroom during certain times to the female soldiers, apparently that information was you know –not disseminated very well and there were a few soldiers that you know just –didn’t get the memo. I could tell he was really trying to downplay the whole thing. No big deal. Sorry it happened. Let’s move on. No big deal, right? Right, Specialist Dodge? You agree, right? NO BIG DEAL. I mean, no need to go any further with this, right? He went on to explain from this point forward male soldiers were going to pull guard duty by sitting in front of the bathroom during the female’s assigned bathroom time. This was to ensure male soldiers did not enter.

I guess that was okay I mean –I really didn’t think putting a male soldier outside the bathroom was a very comforting thought but at least it was better than nothing and so . . .okay, I told the Commandant, it would be fine. Well, it was mostly fine with me but turns out, it really ticked off the male soldiers.

The male soldiers were none to happy to have another duty assignment and pretty much felt like it wasn’t their fault or their problem that the females didn’t have their own bathroom. I can’t say I disagreed with them but it wasn’t my call. In retrospect, if it had been my decision or if I had been bold enough to suggest it, my solution would have been to make the bathroom on our floor strictly females only and have all the males living on that floor have to go to the floor up or down to shower. I realize it still inconveniences the males but much less so than having to pull duty.

And now the male soldiers were mad at me. The general consensus was I had made a big deal out of nothing and going to the Commandant wasn’t necessary –I should have just you know, nicely asked the soldiers, “Can you please refrain from entering the bathroom during the female assigned time?” And they all would have gladly complied and paid extra close attention to the time.

From then on every time I went to take a shower I had to pass the male soldier on duty and hear remarks like, “So you’re the B**** that got me stuck on duty!” Or sometimes as I was walking towards the bathroom some (stupid) male soldier would yell out something like, “WARNING GUYS! DO NOT ENTER THE BATHROOM! You might upset Little Missy there.” Or, “HEY –IF ANYONE WANTS TO COP A PEAK, NOW’S THE TIME TO DO IT!”

I never complained or told anyone because that’s exactly what got me into this mess to begin with –telling so this time I was just going to keep my mouth shut. The harassment lasted a few days until everyone got board with it.

Little did I know then, there was a lot more sexual harassment to come – A LOT more, none of which was even related to the bathroom incidents.