I’m a woman old enough to remember working the same job for a lot less pay than a man.
When a post starts out with a line like that, it’s obvious it’s going to be looong and filled with my personal opinions, observations, and experiences. Feel free to skip reading and come back tomorrow. 🙂
I worked in banking & finance starting as far back as the early 80’s. Because I had college under my belt, I skipped the teller line and went straight to customer service. My desk was front and center — sort of in a row of desks. That front line row was occupied by females — primarily executive secretaries placed in front of the private offices occupied by men with titles.
Still, at that time those desks were where the other female employees wanted to be. Tellers, bookkeepers, and basically all the other female employees scratching for more money had their eyes on those desks and the women in them.
I had big hair and big dreams. 🥴
When I was hired, there were only two women with lending power. Neither had a spot at the main bank visible from the main floor. All the rest across the board were men, and all had higher loan limits than the women. I don’t know of any man with a title who didn’t play golf and spend time at the country club.
I can remember working on Saturday mornings and the VP in charge would be staggering drunk by closing time at noon. I remember my frustration knowing he was making a lot more money than me for sitting around being irresponsible — while the real faces of the bank — the ones keeping the proverbial wheels on the bus — were women barely getting by on their meager salaries.
I never learned to play golf and I didn’t frequent the country club. I did acquire more education and banking experience, and although I moved up the ladder, my salary was never comparable to men in the same role.
Common sense says that’s simply not fair.
The thing is, I never wanted the same pay as a man that did a job I couldn’t/wouldn’t do — just equal pay for equal job performance. I never wanted a job or more pay because I was a woman. I wanted the job because of my qualifications — and I wanted equal pay because I was damned good at my job — cranking out those weekly stats that were equal to or above that of my male colleagues.
My perception is that the scales have now tipped so drastically that viewpoints on about everything have become extreme, and there’s no nuanced discussions.
Common sense has been overshadowed by radical perspectives.
A rise in misinformation from fake news and sensationalism in the 24-hour news cycles — combined with social media and the internet in general — distorts public perception and undermines rational discourse. Rapid cultural changes and the questioning of long-held beliefs creates friction and a sense of instability. Of course, that means people are more likely to make decisions based on emotion rather than logic.
I’m one of those people that remain in the great American middle.
I’m conservative enough to highly regard work ethic and respect for others. I want equal pay for equal job performance no matter the sex or color of one’s skin. Why can’t people simply be hired on merit — not to fill a diversity quota?
I believe in God and not pronouns. I’m liberal enough to accept change and those who choose to be with someone of same sex — but still conservative when it comes to changing one’s sex or pretending to be a variant of the human you were born as.
Herein lies the primary challenge…
Different perspectives on what constitutes common sense will continue to evolve. While some changes are progressive and necessary, they can also lead to conflicts about what constitutes common sense.
I guess we’ve reached the point where people explain my perception of common sense like it’s an anthropological study of Ancient Greece. So I’m just going to keep moving forward — accepting the changes that I feel make sense, and rejecting those I feel are too radical or too narrow-minded.
I’m simply going to continue to enjoy what God has provided — and that I’ve worked for. 🙂
Now you know: The reason why old sports photos often have a blue haze is because the arenas were filled with people smoking cigarettes.