It's Never "Okay"

It seems like almost daily, another man is accused of sexual harassment, etc. I can't even keep track of it. It's like a lid has been pulled off a boiling pot and all the men accused are spilling out. What would have happened if all that stuff hadn't come out about Harvey Weinstein? How long would have all those men been kept in the "boiling pot?" I think the individuals coming forward are very brave and it makes me sad that they felt their voices were not heard for so long or that they kept it inside for years and sometimes decades. I told my dad recently about my "#MeToo" moment. I thought I had told him before, but evidently I hadn't. Anyways, in the late 1980's into the early 1990's I worked for a very small company as a receptionist. I was told by the owner of the company I had to always wear panty hose and a skirt/dress. I did it because I liked the job and the people I worked with. After I had been there a few years, the owner hired an older gentleman. He was easily three times my age. On more than one occasion, he made comments about my figure and how I looked in my clothes. It made me more than a little uncomfortable and I talked to the owner of the company privately. His response, "if you take him to court, I would be on his side." I can still remember his words this many years later. When I finished telling my dad the whole story he said something along the lines of, "I can't say that I'm surprised, that's the way it was back then." Excuse me?? It's never okay for that type of thing to be going on in the workplace. My experience sounds tame compared to the stories I've seen and heard in the news. After I moved on from that job, I took a night class at the local college. I had a professor that would come and stand behind me just a little bit too close. This happened so many times that I eventually dropped the class. I had passed the point of being able to get a refund, but I had to get out of the class for my own mental well being. I had actually forgot about that professor until all of these stories starting coming out in the news. Many of the accused men claim they are "sorry." Are they really sincere or are they "sorry" they got caught???? Time will tell.