When mom told him, he sat down and lowered his head
I remember how every year we had a parent’s day at our school. We got to invite our parents and have tell the other kids what they did for a living. My mom was petite and looked more like a teenager than the mother of three bratty kids. The last year I got to experience parent’s day, I invited mom to come to the school. When her name was called, the teacher asked mom to tell everyone what she did for a living, and tell them about her job. Mom stood up and told our class she was the owner of the local HVAC company and she had been an HVAC technician for almost twenty years. One of the bigger guys snorted. She asked if he a question about the job. He told her his dad told him that no girl ever did a man’s job like a man did. His dad was an HVAC technician and he would laugh if he heard she was an HVAC technician. Mom smiled and thanked him for his comments. She told the kids about working as a female HVAC and getting a lot of backlash about it, but it was a career she enjoyed. The same guy stood up and asked what HVAC company she owned. When mom told him, he sat down and lowered his head. I found out later that day, that his dad worked for my mom. As funny as it seemed at the moment, I was sure he felt bad that his dad worked for a woman. Mom said a lot of men wouldn’t admit they were working for woman when she was better at the job than he was.