Maine Say from Waterville, Maine • 6

Seems like yesterday Wednesday March 19S9 I remember losing my job Marriage automatically meant dismissal Can you imagine such a ruling nowadays? But jobs were scarce The theory was that when a woman married her husband was responsible for her support A married woman who worked was depriving some worthy single person of a job opportunity fill nMIM 3WMK 1 W8 Ji 'l I jaB5r 'K Ji A iiimiMntrf aWRr jrWj 1 tWf iML 1 jKk BHIH 11 9HmSK1U 41 htffiV ihSssfIL gW It was simply an ironclad company rule I meekly abided by it One would think that all this would have been enough incentive for a girl to skip getting married and just live with ner beloved This is me in 43 at the island on but that was unthinkable? Nice girls simply did not 'live in sin Sibley Pond the year we bought This was taken in 1938 a few months after we wen married it Were now retirtd in Maine A A By Alice Wells When I think about wom struggle for equality in the work force my mind goes back to the mid 30s Those days really like but rather like another totally different world In 1935 when I was 19 I felt very lucky to get a job as a service representative with the telephone company in Bridgeport Conn The office was spacious and handsome ly furnished Each of the 10 girls who worked there had her own desk and took care of a certain seg ment of customer accounts Some customers came in person to transact business and there were frequent phone calls from others We took care of installa tions complaints and all sorts of inquiries We also called delin quent customers about their bills and posted accounts every day In addition we were urged by management to encourage tne sale of extension phones directory list ings and upgraded service The unreal pan was the salary Start ing wage was $13 a week with peri odic raises of 50 cents every three months or so until a certain maxi mum of about $30 was reached There were hidden microphones behind small desk calendars on each desk We never knew when a call or a conversation might be monitored by a supervi sor from headquarters who would evaluate performance in terms of courtesy efficiency and tact These microphones were not mentioned while I was learning the job I found out about them in due time from my co workers Nowa days sure that this eavesdrop ping would be highly resented as an intolerable invasion of privacy but 50 some odd years ago it was simply accepted as the method of assuring that the public was receiving good service About two and a half years later I was sent as an instructor or to the service representa tives in the Waterbury Conn of fice which is not far from my home town of Cheshire There I fell in love Bob was in business as a tree surgeon and landscape ar chitect With such a seasonal busi ness we knew the going might be tough But with both of us working we felt confident that at least we starve! He made a down payment on a brand new house with about two of land bordered by a brook and with some lovely trees The price was $3500 That price sounds ridiculous by standards but everything is relative It was quite enough of a debt for a young couple to assume when sal aries were very low I still remem ber one middle aged woman who came into the office to arrange for telephone service When I asked her a routine Question about her employment she said with great pride and dignity worry about getting your money young lady My husband has brought home $25 every week for 30 years and we always pay our bills on But let me get back to my story When I told my boss that I was going to be married he said and then added going to miss The company policy was to hire only unmarried women marriage automatically meant dismissal Can you imagine such a ruling nowadays? But in those lean times before World War II spurred the country out of the depression jobs were scarce The theory was that when a woman married her hus band was responsible for her sup port A married woman who worked was depriving some worthy single person of a job op portunity However this did not prevent him from asking if I would be available to fill in on a temporary basis during vacation time! Never mind the lack of logic there was no allowance made for the fact that circumstances might make a wom job as crucial as a It was simply an ironclad company rule and I meekly abided by it One would think that all this would have been enough incentive for a girl to skip getting married and just live with her beloved but that was unthinkable Nice girls simply did not in My boss did point out to me that I was eligible to apply for unem ployment compensation My initial reaction was that I accept charity He reminded me that I had contributed to it in salary deduc tions and was entitled to it is such a universal idea these days but in the we had to be educated to the concept At the employment office I was told that I would receive one half of my pre vious salary or $14 a week for 13 weeks I also found out that other companies had rules against hiring married women There seem to be much one could do about it it was more or less ac cepted as one of normal in equalities I guess as the ads says have come a long way Alice Wells resides in West Pittsfield.