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Know Your Value — Very Little
Seventy-two years of living tells me that
It was late August nearly 42 years ago and I was walking up and down a street in Wilson Borough, PA, knocking on doors. My soon-to-be first grader daughter’s school was on that street and I desperately needed someone to watch her for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. As a first-grader she was no longer eligible for the daycare center— too old and there would be no transportation to and from the school — even though half of my nurse’s salary went to the center.
I found an older woman who would be watching her own grandchildren. I had no references and just prayed that my daughter, who was very bright and open, would let me know of any problems.
I was a visiting nurse working 8 AM to 4 PM and her school day was 9 AM to 3 PM. I had no close family to watch her and there were no programs for working mothers. My husband, her father, had nothing to do with this — it was “my” problem — in fact, after I found the woman who would watch Heather, he said, “I knew you would do it.” In other words, he knew he didn’t have to do anything.
And, almost fifty years later, I read this piece in the New York Times following the first Democratic Debate.
Mika Brazenski feels that awoman should know her value when interviewing for a job or trying for a…
