Thursday, July 8, 2010

"Wheeling" Chapters 3 and 4

I had a good inkling no one at the radio station was following the ratification of the ERA too closely, or knew much about the new sexual harassment laws except maybe one woman, Cathy, who was the publicity person for the station. She was from a big city, had graduated from a local college, liked the area, and stayed on to work for the station. I waited till after 5 o'clock when I knew Harry and all the sales guys would be long gone, and hoped to catch her in her office. Luckily she was in.


I was very nervous because was older, maybe thirty five, and the college she graduated from, Wheeling College, was run by Jesuits, which I’d heard meant it was very tough. She was allowed to sit in on meetings with the male sales manager, male station manager, male program director and all the male announcers and that never seemed to make her anxious. That day she wore brown suede boots with fringe that went up over the tops of her knees.

I handed her the article I’d ripped out of the paper. I pointed out the phrase I’d underlined and found so startling, asking her what she thought it meant. Then I explained my situation with the elevator man and asked her if she thought this phrase “hostile work environment” covered my situation.

After she’d read the article she asked me, “Are you in support of the ERA?”

“I don’t know about the ERA, but this hostile work thing seems important.”

“Well, what you just told me about is part of what this amendment is all about. It’s not just about pay. It’s equal rights and respect under the law.”

“Then I’m for it.” I said.

As an afterthought, I told her about the sales guys who wouldn’t speak to me, and she told me there was nothing that could be done about that. She believed changing that sort of thing would take years and couldn’t be legislated. Cathy was really very smart.

I think it was a week or so later that a meeting was called. All the employees in the station were asked to meet at noon in the Capital Music Hall next door.

On the stage sat all the managers, including Harry. I didn’t know what this was all about, or what to think. Somewhere, a small voice told me this might have something to do with my conversation with Cathy, but I told that little voice to shut up, because I didn’t want to think about what the repercussions might if that were true, and things were tracked back to me. I did listen to the small voice long enough though to know I better get my game face on.

One by one the managers got up and tried to explain what a hostile work environment was as it pertained to woman.   No one seemed to know just what it meant, but they all agreed it was a bad thing, and there was a new law about it. Harry seemed particularly flummoxed. He'd definitely never heard of this concept before and didn’t seem to want to delve into it too deeply.

After the managers talked, the top counsel for the station got up and told everyone about two lawsuits the big mines had just settled about this very thing. He told us all to be careful, and stop doing whatever it is we were doing.

Finally the station manager took questions from the audience. They were real questions too, not sanitized questions  like the ones normally asked by company retainers. I could tell they were real questions because the station manger didn’t have all the answers, or have handouts ready to pass out to “address that very question”.

After we’d all wandered back to the bull pen, Charlie said, “Well, this is no more than being told to make sure you behave like a decent human being. Watch how you conduct yourself around women. Remember they’re someone’s daughter or sister or such. “

Doug agreed and didn’t say much else. He seemed embarrassed to have been at the meeting. Joe had gotten so nervous during all the speeches he’d set his hair on fire and left the music hall in a hurry, which he apologized to Harry for later. Benny had been so affected by the meeting he set a record, saying boom ten times in three minutes.

As a result of the meeting, the elevator operator stopped spitting vile phrases at me. But he didn’t stop glaring and snorting in disgust whenever I got in his elevator. As Cathy said, some things you just can’t legislate.

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