Here is a list of things that I couldn’t do in my youth just because I was and still a girl.
- I had to wear a skirt to school, no slacks EVER! This was winter in Maine, where it could get to 30 below. I was allowed those ugly brown stockings to keep my legs warm. NOT! You girls know what I mean when I say the wind was not kind to our backside! As an after-note: I rode the bus to school and, after walking to the bus stop, rode the frigid bus 8 miles to school to find that the school was locked, so we waited for half an hour before we got inside. When we got to high school, we rebelled and wore jeans and one of our Dad’s shirts to school until the school relaxed the rules.
- I had a choice of taking secretarial, general, or college courses. I took college courses because that was my dream. Several of the boys and I took the college test (probably not the SAT), and our counselor “advised” me that I should forget college, get married, and have kids, as that was where my qualifications led me. It is interesting that several years later, I took several college courses for my real estate career and earned a 4.0 on all of them.
- It was a thrill to find out that because I was missing that all-important body part, my salary would be ½ to 1/3 of what the guys got. And let’s not talk about raises! They were non-existent for women or as “girls” as we were referred to. One of my first jobs was at Hartford Fire Insurance as a Keypunch Operator, and I discovered that the guys who were computer operators got double or triple our salaries and earned raises. I worked there for a year or more. When the time came, we were all heard in a basement room and addressed by the BIG manager, MR. Something and told we did not do well enough to earn a raise that year. As I recall, I did not make a great impression on him as I mentioned that my boss had told me that I had several “Perfect” packs of Keypunch cards. I will bet my Manager, Mrs. Bills, had a three-martini lunch that day!
- I needed a roommate to afford the rent for a two-bedroom apartment. The differences between us were interesting! At one time, we allowed another girl to share with us for a while. But she was so different and strange that we campaigned to marry her off. We prepared romantic meals for her and her boyfriend and managed to be out for the evening when they got together. If it worked like a charm, they eloped! We were free! Stay tuned because there a lot more.
More tales of the single life in the city in the “Old Days!” Next time!
If you are bored, check out my books at www.brendacolbathbooks.com. Just click on a cover, and you will be taken to one of the sites where you can purchase them as eBooks or paperbacks.