Well She could have, I have no idea and I am not going to say it is because she was a she.
One of the best electricians I have ever met was a woman.
One of the best electrical supply counter people I have ever met was a woman.
The first her name is Heather and the last her name is Liz.
I didn't have a clue as to what anything was called and Liz schooled me on everything.
Now for ballast and what it is.
It can be a noun or a verb.
Noun.
It is what is in a fluorescent light fixture to make it work.
It is the gravel in a railroad bed.
It is on a ship to make it stable.
Verb.
You ballast a ship or railroad track.
What is it in electrical.
It is basically a currant limiter and or controller in the VERY simplest of terms.
There are many kinds.
Ballast.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr..._lamp_ballasts
As for you getting shocked it is static electricity.
How much a person builds up has a lot to do with the person.
What their individual chemistry is.
What clothes they wear and how they walk and how they move their body as they walk.
What you do is become a capacitor in a way.
When you touch a ground or get close enough you discharged may thousands of volts in DC current like lightning.
Do you have a cat?
Take a comb and comb it fast in the dark the sparks will fly off its fur.
This static electricity can kill micro circuits like chips big time.
I know a guy that ripped the protective plastic covering off a new fire alarm panel real fast.
It wiped out the boards in the panel.
Now if you hold something metal and let the sparks fly of it when you touch something you wont feel it.
I would be very curious to know what the voltage is coming into your house.
And if it fluctuates.
Worth