Years ago I was working on a job at a college campus.  We were wiring an addition to the auditorium.  Part of the building was below ground on one side.  The part we were working on was about ground level.

There was one door that led off into the lower level, and the door to it was locked.  The door had a small window in it and someone had attached a dark cloth over the window on our side.  Of course my curiosity got the better of me.  I just had to see what was behind the door.  I wondered who it was that didn’t want what we were doing to be seen.

When I peeked in the window I saw some indoor tennis courts.  I wondered what the big deal was.  I didn’t think it was that out of the normal to have indoor tennis courts for use in bad weather.  Someone else must have had the same curiosity.

Construction workers have always had the reputation of being crude, rude, and even somewhat misogynistic.  I should have picked up on it when one of the guys was pretty insistent, saying; “Adrian, you ought o go look in that window.”

I replied; “I have.  It’s just some tennis courts.”

He said; “Yes, but go look now.”

I returned to the curtained window and on the other side were some college age girls playing tennis; in their skimpy tennis court attire.  Aha!  Now I knew what they were so captivated by.  I thought to myself that the curtain was on the wrong side of the door.

About the time I moved to the Spokane area changes had occurred in the traditional construction workforce.  More and more women were showing up on the job.  At first, most of the women on a construction crew weren’t sure how to assimilate.  As a result there were a few that just paraded around the job site and talked like they knew something about what was being done.  As time went by they began to realize they actually had to be workers, not just exhibitionists.

One of the best workers I ever came across was a woman.  She could out-work any man I ever worked with.  She had no ulterior motives, but was anxious to be a good electrician.

Times changed.

And that was a good thing.