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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

WOE TO MAN


The first time I used the phrase, "How big do they grow women where you come from?" was in response to a male boss telling me and another woman, "You girls take that cart back to salvage." Harold, who was a recent transfer from Kentucky, looked startled and asked, "What does that mean?" I said, "Your calling me a girl is just like calling a black man BOY!" He said, "Ah (I) didn't mean to be offensive; ah (I) figured it was a compliment." I responded, "Your thinking that's a compliment is even sadder--I've worked very hard to become a woman!" Later on, when I went into management, Harold and I became friends and he had many admirable qualities (such as choosing me to be a supervisor) and having a great sense of humor.

He would always pronounce woman as "woe-man", exaggerating the "wo" part of woman; one time when he said it, I commented about our regional speech differences and he laughed and said, "Ah (I) say it like that because you are WOE TO MAN!"

I forgive almost anything if a person is funny!

2 comments:

Mona Lisa said...

See, a person can stand up for what's right and still be able to succeed.

Mona Lisa said...

As you said, Gerald married you for your sense of humor then found out the joke was on him!