Underestimated

A few weeks ago, I was told that many people in my workplace think I am dumb.

In response, I laughed.

Not because it wasn’t true but because I knew that it was and that didn’t hurt me. Later, turning this piece of information over in my mind (thanks to COVID, my mind has a lot of time to turn things over), I wondered why this fact didn’t hurt me. Then it hit me. It didn’t hurt me because I expected it. I’m a woman in my early 20s with a bubbly personality, a penchant for dresses and cool earrings, and a loud laugh. Of course, people assume that I’m dumb. Indeed, it is the very…