They have little seats on the back of public bathroom doors to set your baby in while you do your business. How many times did I juggle a baby while trying to get my jeans down to go when out of the house? Too many times to count. But NOW they have those little seats...yea, just when I don't need them.

Women can get into technical classes, courses and jobs that weren't open to them when I was a young adult. I had to go through a long and aggravating process just to get into an electronics class when I was in high school~it was unheard of! It was the "hippy days" people were doing "their own thing" "following their own paths", yet "I" was considered weird for wanting to pursue a technical field I was experienced in, and good at and enjoyed!

Janis Jophlin (sp) could chug jack Daniel's and screech her lungs out (I admit I loved it) but me, oh no I was a not conforming non conformist. Then joining the Air Force, I stand up for myself and refuse the job options given to all of the women, they were all "women's jobs", none of which I would even consider doing. I get my chance, (thanks to high entrance scores on pre enlistment exams). I get to struggle through years of conflict, harassment, demands to prove myself, one situation after another, one person after another where I break through barriers just to do a job I am perfectly capable of doing and do with joy.

Now, no one gives a second thought about a female doing what were once considered a man's job. It's as easy as drinking water for a female to decide and pursue any field she chooses. Oh sure, it's still harder than hell to break through the glass ceiling, mainly due to the "old boy network" which is still in place because the "old boys" don't like the change. But he Old boys are OLD and will eventually die off, literally.

But tonight was the final straw!!! On the news I heard that with birth control pills women will no longer have to have periods every month, from what they say, they never have to have one! No PMS, cramps, bloating etc.

OH SURE!!! Finally it happens, after the need for it is no longer a factor in MY life!

Why, oh why does everything get better after I no can no longer take advantage of it?

Maybe I'll get lucky and get a grandchild sometime in the next ten years so I can take advantage of those little seats on the back of bathroom doors. I'm going to use them just because I wanna at least take advantage of one of the things that came along too late for me to use.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), August 01, 2000

Answers

Don't write off the "old boy network" too fast. A lot of the existing ones will be shuffling off to Buffalo eventually -- but only to be replaced by their hand-picked NEW "old boy network."

Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss -- Pete Townsend.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), August 01, 2000.

No a woman's place is still in the home if there is a family to raise, its the only system that works

I'm not saying women are incapable of doing men's jobs, they're better at some

so now the trend is that a couple both have to work to sustain a household

-- richard (richard.dale@onion.com), August 01, 2000.

lol, Cherri.

It's because of women like you that women these days DON'T have to jump through the same hoops you did. [Small consolation, I'm sure, but certainly a source of pride, I would think.]

I've not seen those seats on the backs of bathroom doors. My three were so close together that an outing consisted of one walking, holding my hand, one in a stroller, and one in the "snuggly" thing that went over my shoulders and snapped around my waist. I just used the "handicapped" stall to allow room for us all [and the stroller.] I want to thank the handicapped folks who paved the way for providing at least one big stall.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 01, 2000.

Richard:

You're HOPELESSLY out of date. The trend was for women to work outside the home 20-30 years ago. Today's trend is for a woman to work while single and until children are born, and then stay home with the children. At least that's the trend I'm seeing in women who have completed a university education or a training program that allows them to support themselves. Women who decide to work again when their children reach school-age oftentimes engage in job-sharing or telecommuting opportunities. ANY system can work that has the support of the family unit.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), August 01, 2000.

You said it sister! When I see folks peeing inside the house in the winter time, I feel the same way. Forget toilet training in an outhouse. We could have dropped the baby in the hole. No, we had to use old coffee cans and set the baby in our laps with the can between our legs. If we were in a hurry, we leaned on the baby a bit.

And electric lights! My goodness we had to burn our fingers every time we wanted to look at something after sundown. That "early to bed, early to rise" stuff was a coverup for the fact that we didn't have enough kerosene to make it all winter in the dark.

You young folks don't have to kill your daily meal. You don't have to haul ice into your ice box or dump the water. And to think you can have hot and cold running water whenever you want.

Besides that, we had to either walk everywhere we went or rassle with an animal to get us where we wanted to go. No deodorant either. We just smelled like ourselves plus the horse we rode in on.

Yeah, it sure would have been nice to raise our kids these days.

-- Granny (granny@the.nursing.home), August 01, 2000.

I'd like to echo Anita's sentiments, Cherri. Each of us acts and interacts day after day. These actions, large and small, produce waves of after-effects which influence individuals and societies to varying extents. This is why it is so important we choose wisely in all that we undertake. From the casual greeting to the major life decisions, our choices effect not only those in our immediate vicinity. The repurcussions do filter down in ways we rarely see or feel.

Thank you for blazing trails, Cherri. You have much for which to be proud. The best of us are fine mixes of guts, courage and ignorance. Pride and humility are two sides of the same coin. Both should be celebrated. I raise my glass to you and those like you, Cherri.

Now about that game of "quarters"...

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), August 01, 2000.

***No a woman's place is still in the home if there is a family to raise, its the only system that works***

In a perfect world, Richard. I would, btw, love to stay home with my kids. But it's either welfare or work. I choose work. =)

-- cin (cin@cinn.cin), August 01, 2000.

consider yourself-a-brave-pioneer!!--focus on=eterity, & all this temporary-stuff--is WELL!=TEMPORARY!!!3 CHEERS FOR YOU!!

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), August 01, 2000.

Thank you.

I was kinda a pioneer in my own way. I have to admit being brought up with brothers and being strong willed did make it easier for me to do what I did than it might have been for other women, especially my Dad's teaching me so much while I was growing up.

I'm glad other women don't have to go through what I did, even though it was wrong and unnecessary, someone had to do it and I was fortunate enough to be the kind of person (female) who didn't take a lot of the "abuse" personally, and found that a lot of the guys who started out hostile with the wrong ideas learned after time that I was "one of them". Except for a few extreme situations which would not be allowed to happen today, most of what needed to be done was to just do my job. Since I didn't play any games or use my being female in any way to influence my job performance, they realized I was ok and some even came to respect me.

It's good to see people able to do what they are capable of doing.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), August 01, 2000.

Granny, I am ROTFLMAO! Some think, they have known hardship. Most recent, Kosovov, comes to mind. While some, remain, clueless. Oh Well...

-- Ninety Nine (cans@foodondawall.com), August 01, 2000.

Got to add a snippet, Granny, your post could have been posted as tongue in cheek, if so, without you knowing, your post most certainly represented those who came before us. It was a true representation of the old ways, before modern conveniences. It was not easy, we had no alternative, or knowledge thereof. We survived..... Else our descendants, would not be here, correct?

-- Church Fan (H@ndwaver.com), August 01, 2000.

Learn to be free! Don't give a damn what anyone thinks,think for yourself. Life is a good thing when you are free!

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), August 03, 2000.

Granny, Going out to the outhouse is not unfamiliar to me, When I stayed at my Grandma's out by "The River", all we had was an outhouse and wood cook stove with no electricity, the water was pumped in cold out of the ground to the sink where we had to heat it on the stove to use.

Tose experiences are why I didn't think going back to life like that would be fun.

-- Cherri (sams@brigaoon.com), August 03, 2000.