women! Let's get back on track!

And just to point out, I'm not trying to sound anti men or say that 'all women are doormats'... I'm just trying to hold our heads up high.

I couple of years ago I went into a building supply store, dragging my two little kids to buy sand to make to make a brick walkway/patio in my yard.

Man: May I help you?

Me: I need sand.

Man: We don't carry sandbox sand.

Me: Sand to lay brick on. I'm building a patio.

He: Oh.


I bought the sand anyway and went home and layed the patio. Should I have said something? I was already empowered because I know I can lay brick.!

I was in the company of a young woman just last evening and was surprised at how meek and timid she was with her man. Couldn't seem to utter a declarative sentence.
Women are still raised to be weak and dependent. Not just on men but anyone who's willing to "take over". I was a latchkey kid, my mother worked and I've always felt more empowered than deprived by that. I was priviledged to watch a woman take care of herself and her children and raise me to always be able to do for myself and not depend on anyone else to do for me. Self-sufficiency has its rewards, let me tell you, and she showed me by example that you may not be living under the circumstances that you desire but you can still handle whatever comes your way and make it better. I wouldn't trade the streak of independence she instilled in me for anything in the world.
It's got to start from the womb. Let's start by dumping the 'someday my prince will come" fairy tales.

heard a great story in an interview w/ Justice Sandra Day O'Conner. She had just been hired by a major law firm. Went to a meeting with her first client. The client gave her a quick glance and said 'Honey, could you get me a cup of coffee?'

The nearest coffee was down the elevator and across the street.

She fumed all the way there, and thought all the way back.

When she got back and gave the guy his coffee he said 'How much do I owe you?'

'We'll bill you...'

'No, really, how much?'

'1/2 hour at $200 per hour. I'm your attorney...'

Smiling.

Happens sometimes on our work sites. People mistake who ok's payment.

My husband and I bought an older home that needed a great deal of work. As a first-time homeowner, I knew very little about dealing with contractors, and frankly, I was intimidated by them. However, since I was working from home and my husband wasn't, I got to talk to all the workers.

We must have hired the world's worst roofing company to replace our roof after a big hail storm. They backed over one of my brick planters, shattering it. They left huge gouges in my lawn after promising not to let their truck drive on the grass. And they weren't picking up the old nails, either. I meekly told them about all these things when they happened, but they didn't fix a single thing. Probably because they knew I was afraid to push it.

And I probably would have let all those things go, but one day I noticed they weren't nailing up the new shingles in level lines. They had the audacity to tell me it was just fine. I brought it up again, even more gently, and they denied it again. Finally, I insisted that the foreman cross the street with me and look at it from there. "But look at the guttering," he said, "it's even with that." Well, even I knew that guttering runs downhill!!!

That got me a little twisted. I said, "No, it isn't supposed to follow the guttering. It's not level, and you're going to have a big problem when you reach the top row. It's gonna look awful."

"What do you expect me to do, lady? Take it all back down and start over?" the foreman laughed. Laughed!

"Yes," I said simply, and walked back into the house.

A few minutes later, he knocked on the door. "We're about finished for today, ma'am. We'll be back in the morning. But you might want to talk to your husband tonight about the shingles and see what he wants us to do."

Okay, that was it. Now I was MAD.

I took a deep breath and said, "Well, if you look at your contract, you'll see that I am the one who signed it, and I'm the one who's gonna be writing your check, so I think you probably just need to worry about I want."

He apologized and left very quickly.

My husband laughed like a madman when I told him about it that evening. The next morning, the roofers arrived as he was leaving for work. They tried to talk to him about it, but he refused to get into it with them.

So they started redoing the roof. I also made them pick up all their old nails before they left. AND I made them take $250 off their bill for new sod and repairs to the brick planter they broke.

I can honestly say I've never let a contractor intimidate me since.

Great stories. I'll be back with one myself.

Ooooweee! You GO, Eva!

EVA--Hurray!!

Sandra O'Conner's story was superb, too.

I'm still moderately miffed that strong women are referred to as 'bitches'. Where's the comparable term for men?

Dammit.

We've been doing some major renovations in our victorian home recently. Okay, so I've been doing some major renovations in our victorian home recently. He can do anything with a computer, but don't give the poor boy a hammer.

Personally, I enjoy the attention that I get when I go into a hardware store or lumber supply. I sometimes go so far as to pretend that I have no idea what I'm doing. Then, when in the middle of their "simplified" (dumbed down, more like) explanation of a product or technique, I lay the goods on them and make sure they know that I'm just as (if not more) knowledgeable than they are. Puts me in a good mood every time.

I hear you women. Sometimes when getting facials and pedicures, the women will start explaining things to me like I don't know what a cuticle is. Then I bust it on 'em: exfoliation, firming creams, ect. They don't know what to do.

High fives around the room.

Gotta admit, I never pictured you getting facials and pedicures. Just goes to show you...just when you think you've got someone pegged....

So.

What's the best product out there for exfoliation, Scooby Doo? I mean, Slappy? I'm looking for something that works on elbows and knees.

Just kidding. I beat guys up who get that stuff.

Exfoliation? Who typed that? What's that?

GO PATS!

At a place like Home Depot, one upmanship re salesperson is easypickings...

K these are great stories... how about some on how you've bounced back from sad times?.. How you made over yourself and got your self esteem back?

ANYONE?? come on. we all go through changes, I want/need some inspiration that things get better... that we do survive. How do you deal with loses, pains? how do you 'regain' yourself??

AND!!! Where is tinan333 ? anyone here from her lately?

well im a blond. yall know about the blond jokes. lol, well i had to ask a question about something i wasnt understanding in my algebra 2 class.

me: i dont understand this problem

teacher: well im surprised you dont understand all of them seeing that you hair is blond.

is that just totally wrong?! my god ive never felt so insulted in my life.

Comment on the Sandbox Sand:

You did your part, you did say something, maybe next time he'll ask instead of assume.

Good job!

For a teacher to say that to a student is way out of line and there is no excuse for it.