About 40 years ago I was thrilled to see a female tow truck operator hook up the car next door and then the same day a woman climbed a telephone pole at the end of my driveway using cleats as they did back then.

It was about that same time that my daughter, Patricia was working at a gas station and impressed her brother, Michael when he stopped there for gas and witnessed her pumping gas at four bays at the same time.

When I had a flat tire on my car that was parked in my driveway I decided this would be a good time to try out the instructions I had gotten on how to change a tire. I got the tire and the pump out of the trunk and jacked up the car okay. I even removed the nuts, got the tire off and put the new tire on.

I planned to drive to a gas station later to make sure I had tightened the nuts on the spare tire sufficiently. Then I hit my first problem. I couldn't get the car off the jack to lower it. I was saved by Jimmy's pregnant van driver who offered her help and got the car down without a problem.

All that changed when I applied for the office job that I had for thirty years. I was told that the men took an hour for lunch and the women a half hour. The signs on the rest room doors were MEN and GIRLS. A female truck driver who came into the office to use the bathroom pointed out how ridiculous that was. The signs remained the same after the old ones were removed for a paint job. I thought the new ones should have read WOMEN and BOYS.

When I became credit manager of that company the Vice President asked me to bring him coffee because his secretary was absent that day. I doubt if he would have asked a man who held that position to do that.

The vice president was in conference with the owner when I delivered his coffee. The owner was shocked and said to me, “Did Doug actually ask you to bring him coffee?” I assured him that it was okay because I knew if I had a flat tire Doug would change it for me, even though I knew Doug wouldn't change that much.

My mother didn't believe in equal rights. She would say she liked it better when we were superior.