To the Ladies

In one of my six meetings I had today, we were talking about our group of offshore workers.  I won’t bore you with the details of the meeting but there was a small detail that came up I keep thinking about.

Offshore workers work in shifts to accommodate the time zone differences for the companies with which they work.  It’s advantageous for us to work with the workers on the second shift as they are getting off work just as we are coming in.  We have at least a few hours to make the exchange of information of what work was completed while we were sleeping the night before.  In the meeting, my manager made the remark about a female that just started working with us but she’s a first shift worker as no females are allowed to work the second shift.

I have no idea why females aren’t allowed to work the second shift.  I’m guessing it has something to do with their protection.  Because I’m just guessing somewhere along the way things aren’t the same for females as it is for males. 

So as I sat in a conference room with a 3 to 1 male to female ratio where I was every bit as respected by the 3, my heart went out to that worker around the world that at the end of the day, wasn’t being treated the same as her coworkers.

Me, (safely) in New York for work 

I picked up my Bible to straighten up this evening as DSS is making their biannual home visit in the morning and as I walked I randomly opened it to read.  I “just happened” to turn to this passage in Matthew where Jesus was talking about His return.  Things are going to get bad and then He says this:

How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!

I love that out of all the things he could communicate about that time, He took a moment to speak His soft spot for women.  The world is ending and He’s thinking of us in particular.

I love that He feels that way and I love that He took the time to remind me.

Ladies, don’t ever forget you are every bit as valuable as the men around you. We’re different, for sure. But I don’t care if you work or you don’t. If you have kids or you don’t. If you’re a girl, a woman, a lady, you’re important and loved.