I looked at the officer with a straight face and replied, ‘What is shocking about the fact I am college educated? Because I am Black or a woman? I know being outside the ghetto and kitchen is scary, but I have managed to find my way.’ The look on that man’s face was absolutely delicious!" —Anonymous, Texas, 34 The following morning, he left his office so I could get the apology I deserved. After many excuses were made (‘I didn’t mean it maliciously,’ ‘It was just my sense of humor,’ etc.), I finally got a half-hearted apology. A few months later, I found a new job. The firm had given me my first-ever panic attacks for a myriad of reasons, and I had to rebuild my professional confidence over the course of the next few years. If that happened to me today, I would have immediately gone to HR, but even just 10 years ago, it wasn’t necessarily an option for a new college graduate to go against an old-school firm’s longtime managing director." —Anonymous, New York, 32 Not to mention, he couldn’t get the calculator to work! These moments make being a woman in any career feel like navigating a tight rope over a minefield." —Anonymous, Arizona, 27
