Gender equality on the job

Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman. But don’t try to convince the man I overheard last week at the service department counter. I was an innocent bystander when this guy walked up to ask for help with his mechanical problems. The woman told him she could help.
He looked at her, “No, I want to talk with a man.”
Well the man was out of town and the woman happens to know as much, if not more than the man, in this case. But don’t try to convince that determined man. He didn’t even want to see all the certificates saying she was a trained, qualified and certified service personnel. That wasn’t good enough for him, he wanted to talk with a man whether or not the man was qualified and certified.
I know, I know it is a shock to have a woman behind the counter. I was surprised the first time she told me what was wrong with our car. It was also an adjustment when a young man walked into my father’s hospital room and said, “I’m your nurse today.”
In later conversation the nurse said patients have said, “I think I will wait for a woman.”
Ironically, it is not the liberal feminist who enlightened me about the reality of job role reversals. My education began 25 years ago talking with men and women in conservative Amish-like apparel. We lived in the farming country of northern Indiana.
As a newspaper stringer, I wrote a feature on a certified, lawn mower repair mechanic. The half page picture focused on woman in a prayer bonnet bending over her work bench. A certified, trained mechanic, she successfully took over her late husband’s business. Another widow supported her family slaughtering and processing chickens.
In our family my husband slings the hammer and paint brushes, but his conservative, Mennonite aunt proudly did a professional job building the cabinets in their new home.
Then there was the 75 year-old retired farmer with a long white beard and black felt hat. Even after retiring he left his wife at home to cook and sew while he went to help his son on the farm –– until the winter of the traffic stopping blizzards. Shut up in the house, he paced while his wife sat placidly working on a piece of printed cross stitch. He looked at her happily working away in spite of the storm, paced a bit and finally blurted out, “you suppose I could do something like that?”
She was a wise woman. She did not say this is woman’s work. She knew it was hand work. She found a couple pillow cases, showed him the simple stitch and left him alone.
Long after the snow melted, Grandfather white beard was still stitching. He finished the pillow cases and began another set. His wife suggested he branch out into quilt making. He agreed. She bought a set of printed blocks for him to cross-stitch. He stitched, she pieced and quilted. Over the years they made quilts for each of their children and grandchildren. The quilts grandma and grandpa made are now family keepsakes with a unique story.
When a job needs to be done, it really doesn’t make any difference who does the work. What really matters is that the job be done correctly, efficiently and in a timely manner.