When I met with the doctor last week, I expressed concern over shortness of breath and leg swelling. To be safe, she ordered an ultra sound and CT scan to rule out any blood clots. Both tests came back clear. (Prayers answered for sure!) I will self-diagnose the leg swelling due to the heat and excess weight I've added with these latest drugs and the shortness of breath to the crappy, smoggy, smoky air we've had in the valley the last few months. Definitely, a sigh of relief that there isn't anything else going on. Hopefully fall will bring better weather and clearer skies.
On to some random off topic thoughts that relate to current politics, so feel free to stop reading at this point. Dr. Ford that has come forward with a high school allegation against the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has come under fire for how could she possibly remember something like that from 35 years ago. I have two stories that don't come close to hers but are my own moments about interactions with men of previous eras that were raised with "boys will be boys" attitudes.
The first incident was in 5th grade when I first started wearing a bra because I was developing. One day at recess a boy (yes, I remember his name but won't state it) in front of classmates asked "are you a turtle?" Introverted, naive me replied "No". He proceeded to snap my bra strap and said "then why do you snap" to laughter of classmates. I didn't report it. I don't know think I even told my parents because I was embarrassed. Others were there that will never remember it happened, but it had a life long impact on me. I avoided him throughout the rest of our school years as much as possible. But he was such a "nice little boy"...
The second incident was in my first year as a 22 year old teaching in a male dominated math department with only three other female colleagues that were 10-20 years older than me. The communal office was decorated with posters from X-rated movies with disgusting pictures. They had hung there for years and the men saw nothing wrong with them and even when it was brought up in meetings, they had no intention of taking them down. (One teacher also had St. Pauli girl posters decorating his classroom and no one made him take them down either.) My second year, I couldn't tolerate the posters but there was no avenue for sexual harassment or filing complaints in those days. So I went in one weekend and in a passive/aggressive move, took them down They were ticked off, but I never admitted it then. My female colleagues knew I did it, but we all took the flak. "Good ol' boys" considered "great teachers" that didn't think there was anything wrong with their behavior. Again, a profound effect on my perception of some of my other male colleagues over the years.
My point with these two stories is that YES we remember in great detail things that happened to us in our younger years even if it had little to no impact on the persons that did it. They may have been acting in what was considered acceptable male behavior in the 70's and 80's. It doesn't make it right and with a lens of continued inequities in our world, we need to acknowledge and move forward to do better!
No comments:
Post a Comment