I
have wanted to see a woman become president since I was
eight years old. That desire began while I was staying
at my Aunt Lena's house because my mother had to go out
of town for a few days. I loved my Aunt Lena and was happy
to be there. But it was a different story for me and my
Cousin Irwin, who was Aunt Lena's son. He was only a few
months older than me but he made it clear to me that he
was the boss. "You're only eight, Annie, and I'm eight-and-a-half."
he said as he puffed out his chest.
On
Monday, Irwin asked me if I wanted to play a game called
Business that he had invented. I said, "Okay." So Irwin
gave me three pencils and three new tablets that looked
very official because they had the names of different
companies printed on the top. I was thrilled to see the
tablets because they were all of different colors. One
was pale blue, another light green, and the third a bright
yellow. I also noticed two sheets of carbon paper on each
tablet and I had no idea what they were used for.
Irwin
told me his Uncle Meyer, owner of a printing business,
had given him all these marvelous leftovers. As I looked
back on this experience as a grownup, it hit me that in
1933 many of Uncle Meyer's customers had apparently gone
bankrupt because of the depression and that created an
opportunity for Irwin at the age of eight to have all
the supplies necessary to fantasize about starting his
own business.
"Now,
Annie," he explained, "in this game of Business, I am
the president and you are my secretary. You must write
down everything I say on this tablet. Use the carbon paper
so I will have a copy of it and I will correct any mistakes."
I agreed.
We
played Business on Monday and it was fun. We played again
on Tuesday and it was okay. But on Wednesday I said to
Irwin, "Today I want to be president of this company and
you be the secretary." He looked at me like he wanted
to kill me. In an angry voice he shouted, "Listen Annie,
boys are never secretaries and girls can never be president."
"If that's the case, I told him, "I don't want to play."
I threw the pencils and tablets at him and started to
run away. Irwin grabbed me by the neck, turned me around
and punched me real hard in my stomach. When I could finally
catch my breath, I started to cry and ran to tell my Aunt
Lena what had happened.
Aunt
Lena put me on her lap, wiped away my tears and kissed
me sweetly on the head. When I told her that I didn't
want to play Business with Irwin because he said boys
are never secretaries and girls can never be president,
she tried to comfort me by saying, "Don't play with him,
Annie. Sometimes boys can be very mean." But I realized
many years later that Aunt Lena was not able to tell me
what I needed to hear. I needed to hear her say to me,
"Don't listen to Irwin, a girl can become president."
But
now as I approach my 75th birthday, I realize I must thank
Irwin for many things. First, because of my experience
with him, I became president of my own company called
Women are Wonderful. Next, it gave me the courage to produce
a T-shirt with a message, "Someday a woman will be
PRESIDENT!" that featured Margaret, the cartoon figure
from Dennis the Menace. Later, it gave me the strength
to produce the Margaret doll wearing her famous T-shirt
using my own money. Lastly, it gave me the push to initiate
Margaret for President Clubs for elementary school children.
It all started with me at age eight and Cousin Irwin who
was eight-and-a-half.
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