Yesterday Al Franken resigned from the Senate. That made me very sad. To be honest, this whole mess has made me stop and rethink and wonder just what in the hell kind of mess we have gotten ourselves into with the "Me to" movement. I woke up at 4:00 AM with this on my mind. I guess this is just the one that pushed me over the edge.
You all know most of my story. I married before I was 20 and had my first baby 2 years later. That one was the first of 4 born in 4 years and then a short break and the 5th came along. Sometimes love does not conquer all and I ended up a single mother with no skills with which to support myself and an ex-husband that did not pay child support because he did not want a divorce. Needless to say he was my first "me to" although I can not say it was so much sexual harassment as just a case of a man trying to hold a woman and keep her in her place. But that is neither here nor there and it is what it is and ended up in a divorce. I was awarded $50 a month for 5 kids, but that was back in the day when a man could just move to another state and the child support was not going to follow him. And that was what he did.
Of course, I had to go to work and the only work I had ever done was restaurant or laundry. Laundry work is very hot, and very heavy lifting, so I opted for waitress work. The night shift always had better tips, but I wanted to be home with the kids at night so I approached the boss about training me to be a cook. That was better. I guess the first time I ran into blatant sexual harassment was at the Holiday Inn. It was not really harassment so much as just being paid half as much as the fry cook that I did the same work as and less than the salad boy. When I complained the boss explained to me that it was just the way it was. Men had families to take care of so they needed more money. When I told him I had 5 kids to take care of he told me I should have practiced keeping my legs together. Back in those days restaurants were not covered by any kind of wage control, so to make the money I needed I worked double shifts. I went to night school and got a degree in accounting, but I was still a woman and did not make the wages I needed.
I lost count of how many times I was propositioned when I was a waitress and how many men tied the amount of my tip to how friendly I was to them. Of course I also learned that the wife was prone to just reach over and pick up that tip if I were too friendly to her husband. It became a balancing act of being just nice enough to the man that he would leave a tip and even nicer to his wife so she would not pick it up.
I am glad that things have changed and women can now actually support themselves. Too bad I am too damned old to work now. And I rather resent it when I go to the feed store and load my cart with 50 pound bags while the clerk is over selling a roll of wire to some farmer. And I hate that I have to tell them at the counter that I need help loading it into my car. Course when I get home I am on my own,
But back to Al Franken. I loved him when he was a comedian and was happy when he was elected to the Senate. I saw the picture where he appeared to be groping that woman and it was clear to me that was something from his comedy days, back when that was considered funny. I do realize that there is a real problem with some men and their inflated egos', but I do not think for one minute Al Franken falls in that bunch. It is sad that we lost him in the shuffle, but I was happy to hear he will still be an activist. I really expect him to make another run because the people in his home state know the character of the man. And they know what an asset he is to our party.
So until our government figures it out I am just going to stay in my little house and when I need a repair man, I will call my son, because if I call the repairman, the house call rate doubles. But that is not because I am a woman living alone, it is just how it is.
You all know most of my story. I married before I was 20 and had my first baby 2 years later. That one was the first of 4 born in 4 years and then a short break and the 5th came along. Sometimes love does not conquer all and I ended up a single mother with no skills with which to support myself and an ex-husband that did not pay child support because he did not want a divorce. Needless to say he was my first "me to" although I can not say it was so much sexual harassment as just a case of a man trying to hold a woman and keep her in her place. But that is neither here nor there and it is what it is and ended up in a divorce. I was awarded $50 a month for 5 kids, but that was back in the day when a man could just move to another state and the child support was not going to follow him. And that was what he did.
Of course, I had to go to work and the only work I had ever done was restaurant or laundry. Laundry work is very hot, and very heavy lifting, so I opted for waitress work. The night shift always had better tips, but I wanted to be home with the kids at night so I approached the boss about training me to be a cook. That was better. I guess the first time I ran into blatant sexual harassment was at the Holiday Inn. It was not really harassment so much as just being paid half as much as the fry cook that I did the same work as and less than the salad boy. When I complained the boss explained to me that it was just the way it was. Men had families to take care of so they needed more money. When I told him I had 5 kids to take care of he told me I should have practiced keeping my legs together. Back in those days restaurants were not covered by any kind of wage control, so to make the money I needed I worked double shifts. I went to night school and got a degree in accounting, but I was still a woman and did not make the wages I needed.
I lost count of how many times I was propositioned when I was a waitress and how many men tied the amount of my tip to how friendly I was to them. Of course I also learned that the wife was prone to just reach over and pick up that tip if I were too friendly to her husband. It became a balancing act of being just nice enough to the man that he would leave a tip and even nicer to his wife so she would not pick it up.
I am glad that things have changed and women can now actually support themselves. Too bad I am too damned old to work now. And I rather resent it when I go to the feed store and load my cart with 50 pound bags while the clerk is over selling a roll of wire to some farmer. And I hate that I have to tell them at the counter that I need help loading it into my car. Course when I get home I am on my own,
But back to Al Franken. I loved him when he was a comedian and was happy when he was elected to the Senate. I saw the picture where he appeared to be groping that woman and it was clear to me that was something from his comedy days, back when that was considered funny. I do realize that there is a real problem with some men and their inflated egos', but I do not think for one minute Al Franken falls in that bunch. It is sad that we lost him in the shuffle, but I was happy to hear he will still be an activist. I really expect him to make another run because the people in his home state know the character of the man. And they know what an asset he is to our party.
So until our government figures it out I am just going to stay in my little house and when I need a repair man, I will call my son, because if I call the repairman, the house call rate doubles. But that is not because I am a woman living alone, it is just how it is.
