Women still getting screwed at the office

My friend Josh, a hot-shot attorney in Atlanta, doesn't believe that men still make more money than women do for doing the same job. He says if there is any difference at all, it's because women don't work as many hours or as hard or don't have the exact same responsibilities....blah, blah, blah.

Despite numerous studies to the contrary, Josh vehemently denies their is a gender pay gap.

Well, today on CNN's homepage, there is an article on a new study, which not only disagrees with Josh and other bull headed men, but it reveals knew insights into the unequal pay practice. This study shows that right out of college women make 80 percent of what men make for the same jobs. But what's shocking is that 10 years after graduating from college, with all things being equal, women make just 69 percent of what their adams-apple rich counterparts do.

Immediately, I forwarded the article to my friend Josh. He wrote me back: B.S.

No wonder women are getting shafted. Men don't even want to acknowledge there's a problem at all.

But I didn't need a study to tell me this. Work in any office for any length of time and you'll find out through the grapevine (or other means) that men get raises and promotions more frequently and their raises are generally more substantial than womens'.

How do I know this for CERTAIN? It's easy. I had an idiot coworker who decided to type up his salary/promotion history over his 5 year tenure with my old company. The reason he's an idiot is because he left the Word document printed out on the back printer. And while the "noble" thing to do may have been pretending I never saw it and quickly averting my eyes, instead I grabbed the piece of paper and took it back to my office where I carefully analyzed it before bringing it into my boss (who had told me for years that I was getting the maximum pay increases possible and was his most valuable employee). He was a dirty rotten liar.

Once I confronted my boss, he hemmed and hawed and finally just giggled nervously and said, "you busted me." He then offered me an on-the-spot bonus and a nice pay raise.

I took it. But it didn't make me feel worthy or deserving, it made me feel dumb and unappreciated. It's like when you have to tell your boyfriend to give you flowers -- it ruins the sincerity of the gesture.

I had always prided myself on asking for promotions/raises and being a savvy negotiator. I gave tips to my friends on how to "work their bosses" to get more money.

Turns out I was the one being worked.

I wonder how many men read the article today and did just what my friend Josh did, and instantly write it off to B.S. Show it to your husbands/boyfriends/brothers and dads and tell me what they say. Here's the link.

Are all men blind to the gender gap, or is it limited to one bull headed lawyer from Georgia?

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