There was a time when a woman was expected to get married, have children, and run a household while the man of the family went to work everyday and provided the income to support these pursuits. As time passed, women became more liberated and career minded and the thought of being a full time housewife was repugnant to many. They wanted to join men in the workplace which was fine. If they were qualified, the hell with the "good ole boys" creed of "no girls allowed." Times change and I can dig that.

I have never had a problem working with women. In my work I called on women all the time so I had a professional relationship of salesman to buyer. However, I have heard of many instances where people were in an office situation and working with women was not a pleasant experience. They say that many women have a "want their cake and eat it" attitude toward their job. In other words, although they have chosen a particular work career, they still want to balance it against having a home and kids. They feel that special arrangements should be made for them to skip work for various games and functions where their children are involved.

So, who gets the short end of the stick in a situation like this? It's usually the poor single guy or girl who must fill in for the mom who doesn't understand her work responsibilities. As one single employee says: "When I worked in retail, I was always the one that had to work Halloween night because the moms had to take their children out for trick-or-treat. Same with Christmas Eve and Mother's Day - no one ever thought I might want to visit my mother!" Another stated: "It's just tough sometimes to get up on a snowy day and trudge into work only to find out that half of the office is out because their children have a snow day."

I have nothing against motherhood or women in the workplace but come on ladies, fair is fair. You chose to have a family and work full time. If you have to inconvenience others because of your lifestyle, that is not fair. What is fair is that you get passed up on promotions for your behavior and avoid the persecution complex. There may be a valid reason for that glass ceiling in your case. It's not your co-workers fault that 24 hours in a day are not enough for you to balance your schedule without inconveniencing others.

It's no wonder that employers tend to change the tone of job interviews with women when they hear that they are pregnant or have children. This upsets a lot of women who should try to see the point of view of a guy who is trying to run a business and keep employees happy. He doesn't want to tell a single employee he or she has to work on Saturday so mom can go to a Little League game. That sounds fair to me. Just deal with it, mom and, oh yeah, Happy Mother's Day.