Van Penninger: True Women’s Day heroes

I went out on Women’s Day. I had lunch at a restaurant I’ve been going to for years. About 98 percent of the staff are women. They were all there working hard and taking care of the customers as usual.

I asked my favorite waitress why she was not out demonstrating. She said, “I have to work today, and so does my man. We earn what we have and don’t expect anyone to give us something for nothing, and I’m fed up with all these women who think they are owed something.” As usual I left her a $5 tip for an $11 meal. She deserves that and more.

I then went to the N.C. Museum of History to work a shift teaching classes to visitors. All but one of the education staff are women. I’ve known them since 2003 and they are very intelligent, well-educated and I like all of them. They were all there. I asked one of the women why she wasn’t demonstrating and she said, “I have a job to do.”

Why do we not hear about these women in the media, especially since they are representative of the vast majority of women in the workplace?

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Van Penninger: True Women’s Day heroes."