red light, green light

today at a red light, i gave some change to a guy that was panhandling. surprisingly, he stood outside my window to make a little conversation while i was stopped.

guy: "hey thanks for the change. i'm actually going back to work in a few weeks."
me: "oh that's good. what do you do?"
guy: "oh, i'm a welder. i been a welder since 1975 (ed. note: incidentally this is longer than i have been alive so i was duly impressed) yeah that was when i got certified. then one year a disk went POP in my back... but i'm going back to work soon. and what do you do?
me (a little surprised he asked me this): oh, well i'm unemployed. looking for a job. i wish i knew how to weld stuff.
guy (suddenly more animated): oh no no! you don't want to do that? it's hard work. man's work. why i only knew two or three women welders.

(light turns green)
me: oh, well, i guess you are right.

as i start to pull away, a thought hits me. i lean my head out the window and yell back to him: "hey wait, what about rosie the riveter? come on!" (laughs)

he thinks this over, smiles and shrugs - i'm not sure if this mean he was conceding my point, or he didn't know who she was. rosie the riveter and all the women workers from WW2 have a monument at the shipyards near here, so i'm betting he knew of her.

and i continued on my way, glad for the brief connection with him.