Invisible

I discovered today that I have a great talent -- I can be invisible!

You see, I was in a meeting today with Vicki, who heads the website committee for the women's leadership conference, and Andy, who works at the marketing services department of the school. (His business card says "Associate Director, Interactive Marketing.")

What happened was that I would ask a question and Andy would respond to Vicki. He would look at her the entire time he's answering the question as though I wasn't even in the room. And this happened question after question. Well, Vicki is a young pretty first-year MBA, who is sweet and soft-spoken, and I don't blame him for preferring to look at her. But he never even glanced at me to acknowledge that I was there.

So, I figured there must be a reason for it, but I just can't figure out what the reason is. I'm thinking a) he had lost the ability to figure out what direction a voice comes from, b) he's prejudiced against me for one reason or another, or c) I really am invisible.

Somehow, I don't think it's a or c. So the real question might be why he's prejudiced against me. Is it because I'm a minority, because I'm an older woman, because I'm not pretty, because I'm overweight, or because I'm assertive? Or does it even matter why?

I personally prefer c; it would mean I have a latent talent. Heck, who needs an invisibility cloak?