sara, when these fools start their noise, can you look them right in the eye and say "stop, i will not listen to this from you. this is not work related." and if needs be, walk away, even if they are talking to you. if you suspect that the guy and his buddies are doing this to get a rise from you, you can try to stop their behavior by refusing to listen to it. sometimes, sadly,as a young female, you will be the 'target' for moronic behavior. this is not right, but it does happen. if you can practice at home and get an off work friend to role play with you about this, you will be more ready to let those morons know that you will no longer be their target. saying no, publically and loudly to their behavior and walking away are the first things i would do. breathe deep as you do this. also, start keeping a written log, dates, time, witnesses of their harassment, do not let them know you are doing this, keep it in some place private like your purse. this will help you establish a pattern and practice of their behavior if you have to take this to your supervisor or the human resources dept at work. work place harassment is never right, and you have done nothing wrong, they are wrong. the phrase" pattern and practice" and written documentation will definately get the human resources departments attention. several years ago, i worked in an abusive job situation, i felt powerless cause i needed the money badly and the skills i had then weren't enough to get me another position. i would go home at night feeling sad, sick and depressed and just the thought of going back was awful, i wound up taking time off b/c i was at a breakdown point and taking depression medication. i had documented the harassment i was getting from one of my supervisors, as to her behavior, witnesses and dates and events. when i went to the HR dept to get the stress leave, my notes got the higher ups to know what was happening, and they let my supervisor know her behavior was wrong and the corporation wouldn't allow her to continue her 'pattern and practice' of abusing me.
when i returned to work, i got better job skills, more training (they paid for it as a benefit!) and i got out of there into a much better, happier job in a different division of the same corporation. that office closed 6 months after i moved on...guess how i felt? . if you'd like to talk more, you can email me. hope this helps, joyce