An executive thank-you

First thing Sunday morning I woke up and read the news.

Obama To Sign Executive Orders On Equal Pay

Now women have to be paid the same as men. It's 2014 and this was still not happening.

I learned a long time ago not to ask who was being paid what at my jobs, because I knew the answer might signal the end of that job for me.

Like the last time I asked. It was Guy. We had the same job at the same company. The year was 2004. He had been there 1 year longer than me and when he told me he was making $4 an hour more, I made an appointment with The Man to ask for equal pay. I found the gap in our wages staggering, I had to say something.

Yes, I had put in less time at the company, but I produced more and could prove it. When I asked for a raise, I was denied one. Any kind of one. I was gone a few weeks later, because who can live with that.

Now no one has to. All things being equal, no one has to.

And so with this headline I was moved to tears and Guy asked, "What's wrong?" I showed him the iPad, just turned it for him to see the headline. He then asked, taken aback, "You're crying about that?!" He wasn't being mean, he truly didn't get it.

How could he?