by Angie SanFilippo

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: May 03, 2007

I have been in the work force since I was about seventeen years old and pregnant. I had my second son by the time I was nineteen. By this time I did not have a job; I dropped out of school and had two children from two different guys who were both at the same end of the spectrum "loserville".

I took a typing class in junior high and thank god I did because that is how I landed most of my earlier jobs. My first job and I know some of you can remember those days, I worked on a typewriter. The civil engineering firm I worked for had one computer and it was in a locked room all by itself. I was a receptionist and was not allowed to even enter that room. The computer was used only for military specifications that my immediate supervisor input. In retrospect that job could have turned into a career but I was young and dumb and the company and I mutually parted ways after about six months.

I thought I knew it all at seventeen. It was my boys' and me against the world. I always held my head high but now that I'm older and my kids are grown I can see how people must've seen me in the workplace. I remember a guy I worked with saying something like "single mothers put up with more crap from their employers and are probably better workers because they really need their jobs". That's when I realized I was seen more as a young, ignorant, single mother with two children who had to work the job I did for whatever money they paid me and that was that. I never really saw it like that, I had skills and I worked my butt off to get to where I am today. Although to a certain extent his statement was true, single mothers do need their jobs and yes most of us work harder because we have no other choice. I have never been the type of person to stay in a situation wherein I really wasn't happy. I might tolerate it for awhile, try to justify it, but in the long run I change my situation.

In today's work force there are a growing number of single father's. Not just divorced fathers that see their kids every other weekend. I mean fathers who are really involved with their children. I hear more male counterparts saying "I've got to pick up the kids" or "my kid has a baseball game, can we reschedule". What is incredulous is that it is acceptable for the man to take time off for their children. I have worked for some rich and powerful men who have ex-wives, nannies, etc to care for their children, take them to the doctor or attend parent/teacher conferences. I remember one time, I had two male

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