{"id":797,"date":"2022-08-07T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T21:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=797"},"modified":"2022-08-07T17:07:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T21:07:20","slug":"me-too-all-over-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=797","title":{"rendered":"ME TOO ALL OVER AGAIN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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ME IN MY HOMEMADE DRESS <\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction, and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books: www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, women\u2014mostly well-known, but some not\u2014have been coming forward in droves to tell their stories of harassment, assault, and even rape which have hurt their careers and damaged them psychologically.  Probably a majority of career women have experienced at least some degree of this.  I can\u2019t claim I have much to report.  I was a teacher\u2014no one ever said, \u201cEither you grant me sexual privileges or you\u2019ll never work in the county schools again!\u201d  There were a few random bad days like every teacher has when I could have responded to such a threat, \u201cMake my day\u201d or \u201cTake this job and shove it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there is that one humiliating experience I\u2019ve never forgotten.  It was the summer following my first teaching year.  After deductions, my monthly check was $233\u2014you read that right, that was two hundred, thirty-three dollars.  I had college loans to pay off.  So I spread the word through friends and fellow teachers that I needed a summer job.  Soon I got a call at the boarding house where I stayed.  A manager of a local business, who was also the husband of a high school friend, said he thought he might be able to help.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very next day I showed up at his business in the nicest of my homemade dresses.  \u201cMr. Jerk\u201d met me hand extended and welcomed me into his office.  It looked plush to me then\u2014mahogany desk, high back swivel desk chair, and oriental rug on top of wall-to-wall carpeting.  Mr. Jerk motioned for me to have a seat.  He closed the office door, and that should have been a warning, but I was clueless.  He told me how good I looked even as I was noticing a puckered seam in my black dress.  He told me what great things he was hearing about my teaching.  I doubted it\u2014it was my first year, and I had learned more than my students that year.  He asked about my folks.  In short, he talked about everything except the reason for my visit.  Awkwardly, I tried to steer the conversation to summer jobs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Jerk smiled.  \u201cI\u2019ll sure put in a word for you if I hear of anything.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut when you called,\u201d I began.  \u201cI mean, I thought you already knew\u2026\u201d  I stood.  \u201cWell, thanks anyway.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait!\u201d said Mr. Jerk, motioning me to sit.  \u201cIt just now occurred to me that you might like to go up to Chattanooga one night next week.  We could drive around, go out to eat.  With school out, you don\u2019t have to be home early.  Heck, you\u2019ll have all night.  My wife is out of town.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finally got the picture.  \u201cI have to go,\u201d I said, backing toward the door.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Jerk laughed.  It was a smug, mocking laugh.  \u201cScared you, didn\u2019t I, Sweetie?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly my embarrassment turned to pure anger.  I walked slowly back to his desk, put both hands on the shiny mahogany and leaned over until our faces were only inches apart.  He no longer looked so smug.  His smile wavered.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, Mr. Jerk, you didn\u2019t scare me.  I\u2019m just not the least bit interested.  I wouldn\u2019t be interested even if you were good looking and charming. I don\u2019t go out with married men.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I let myself out.  Needless to say, a summer job never materialized.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that’s fine.  Even this many years later, I wouldn’t want to owe that man anything.  <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction, and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books: www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon. In recent years, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=797"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":801,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797\/revisions\/801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}