After 60-Hour Work Week, Restaurant Owner Laughs--Ruefully--at Sexism

I enjoyed the April 4 feature on minority car dealers in the Southland, “Making Inroads in the Southland.”

To the black car dealership owner who said that when he is standing on the lot with one of his white salespeople, a vendor or customer invariably will address the salesperson as the one with authority, I would like to say, “Join the crowd.”

I own a restaurant in Bakersfield and have found it amusing that invariably when I have been standing with my male managers, customers and vendors always talk to them when they want someone with authority. That is the case even though I am in my 40s, while my managers have been in their 20s and 30s, and I am always dressed very professionally.

I have encountered this prejudice/stereotyping many, many times on the job and still--after 16 years there--am correcting people who introduce me as the restaurant owner’s wife. After a 60-hour work week, I find that description laughable.

MARGARET LEMUCCHI

Bakersfield