Working for the Man

This morning, after seeing the news start to repeat itself, I skipped around the channels a bit and found myself in the middle of a Shirley Temple movie I'd never seen before. I have to admit, I'm a big Shirley Temple fan. I remember seeing her movies when I was growing up and looking at her as a good example to follow. No matter what bad circumstances she found herself in, she always kept a bright outlook on things and that's what pulled her through the bad times.

In this movie, Our Little Girl, Shirley's father is too busy with work (he's a doctor who is doing some important research) and neglects his family. The mother has an affair with a family friend and the parents divorce. Shirley's character is stuck in the middle and to try to get her parents back toegther, she runs away. I only saw a few minutes of the movie but it intrigued me enough to where I think it would be fun to rent and see it all the way through,.

The scene that caught my attention, though, was when the father decides to take some time off and take Shirley to the circus. As they're getting ready to go, the maid (or maybe she's a nanny) is thanking the father for the afternoon off because her teeth have been bothering her and she can use the time to go to the dentist. Wow. To think you could work for someone and be having a problem with your teeth and not be able to just ask for some time off! That was a shocker to me. Is that really how things were back in the 1930's? Is that how things are even now for a maid or nanny? I can't imagine working under those conditions. I'm thankful for the job I have and how easy it is to get time off when I need it - especially for medical problems.

My wife, Cindy, had another take on it. "Imagine being able to get in to see your dentist the same day," she said. That's right. Maybe things weren't so bad in the 1930's.