The month of the woman

March has been designated as “The Month of the Woman.”

As I looked over my many years of employment, I recalled a few similar complaints as those we hear today. My experiences often centered around the meeting room. Sometimes I forgot how individual executives preferred their coffee: black, with one packet of sugar (or was that two?), and which one took cream? In those days, yes, we each took on the role of Girl Friday, for which we were paid a woman’s salary.

No man was expected to apply for a secretarial position or file clerk.

And certainly, no woman was granted an interview for engineering, accounting or sales positions, and definitely no legal position regardless of whether she had earned a law degree. And it’s only been a few years since women have been considered worthy to pastor a congregation.

Yes, women have made strong inroads. We’ve come a long way, baby — but there’s still a ways to go. If a negative experience should come along, any man or woman has the right to focus on what can be learned from it. Never lose sight that happiness, peace and sanity are one’s own responsibility. It’s tempting to complain about how unfair a situation is. But complaining isn’t enough. Definitely don’t sweep it under the rug. Share it with someone. Make a definite note about it. Make sure who you share it with listens and takes notes as well.

I found the following quotation from the paper’s Celebrity Cipher puzzle page something to think about. See if it speaks to you: “I have tasted life. Life is wonderful but very dangerous. If you have the courage to live it — it’s marvelous,” said Lionel Barrymore.

If no one has told you recently, let me remind you. You are courageous and worthy. Trust and depend upon your capabilities, your value. You have a power within that is waiting for you to beckon. Men often are taught this early on. It’s time for all women to hear it and come to know that it’s true for them as well.