Hi everyone (especially BlueIris!) Please PM me if you'd like birth time / city.

This is my problem: I don't know if it's something about my energy, attitude, or what, but I'm treated like I'm invisible at my workplace. (Even delegation of work has come up and even though I find it plainly obvious that I have time to goof around on DU all day and write out the story of my life they for some reason won't give me anything else to do. They think I have plenty.) It's kind of an odd situation as my mother works here as a manager which changes the dynamic/politics a lot. So there is on occasion a big paternalistic / "pat on the head little girl" vibe which drives me nuts. It may be too much to overcome.

I don't particularly care for the job but as my immediate boss will be out having a baby I feel like sticking around another 3-4 mos is the ethical thing to do. I am a person who defines what they are = their job. A bit of a type A. I can't adapt to the mundane tasks and "life script" (kids) that seem expected of me as a young woman here. I have real problems relaxing and know I am struggling with health issues due to the underutilization of my intelligence. I have channeled this excess brainpower into volunteering lately with a non profit group. That's very fun and I wish I could turn that into a job one day. I also feel like I should be on a grad school track or something but feel stuck due to circumstances, although the truth is that I am insecure in my knowledge of what I enjoy and could pursue on a higher level, and this whole job thing has exacerbated my insecurities. Why pursue more education if everyone assumes all a young woman can do is have children and type spreadsheets?

Anyway, they hired someone new today. What made me finally post is that my boss' boss came around and introduced me as having been upstairs 3 months (um, it's really 8, but thanks.) My boss is out at a checkup and a few people have come in here just asking where she is and not even acknowledging me. (we share an office) I swear I feel like I am wearing the Harry Potter invisibility cloak sometimes.

I toted my BA in to put on the wall beside me, mostly with the goal in mind that it could be a positive visual cue that could get people thinking, and might make the superiors think twice about giving me light data entry tasks and stuff. I'll give that more time, I guess. I have also been working on my assertiveness and speaking plainly about my true feelings. My sense, which is even more depressing, is that they just can't comprehend that I can do more work, vs. anything deliberate or political. I am trying to get "noticed" to no avail because of assumptions people have made about me that I can't control. I would like to change people's perceptions but the energy here is very entrenched. (Many "lifers" in management have been here 18-20 years and this place only has maybe 50 people) My boss' boss has real problems delegating work and the two women in this position before me quit for the same reasons I am complaining about. This has been pointed out but nothing has happened (yet)

I got myself put on the "achievement wall" ( a corny recognition method if there ever was one) and I realized that since my move upstairs I haven't been involved in much. No meetings with customers, no projects, no new accounts, just sort of pigeonholed into an assistant role which my skills greatly exceed. It was good for a while as I was dealing with some health problems in Oct. shortly after I was moved up here but now I feel like I need more of a challenge.

I guess I'd like to know what I can do to change and if I need to recognize that it's time to move forward to something else. Thanks for your attention, everybody.