I'm not 45 and with kids, saying, "Oh well, we'll let the next generation worry about it." I am the next generation and I'm going to worry about it! If not for me, for my kids, because in another twenty years things have got to get better. They just can't keep going like they are. And I've still got sixty years of work left in me. That's a long time. So something's got to be done.

It doesn't always feel like I have a choice about doing this work. I know I do, I could just walk away, but it feels like this is what I have to do. That's even true when I'm thinking that the more I see, the more I want to close my eyes.

Involvement in literacy

That's how I ended up involved in literacy. I wanted changes to happen. I was a shop steward and the women would come to me and say, "Can a boss do this to you?" And I'd say, "No," and they'd go back and yell at the boss. But they didn't have the confidence to look it up in the contract or Health and Safety Laws. They couldn't do that. They depended on me.

I'm hoping with the literacy that they will be able to find out things for themselves. So that they can read about it and actually prove it to somebody if they are ever questioned. They can say, "It's right here," instead of saying, "Well, you know, somebody told me."

Not only do you have to educate people around reading, writing, and math, but you have to teach them to be critical. You have to teach them how to criticize what they read and what they see. I really think that education could empower.

I think we have to educate people to criticize their unions and say "Hey, you're not going to do that to me anymore. I'm not going to let you do that to me anymore. How come you can make $100,000 a year and keep increasing my dues and not getting me a raise? If I'm going to take roll back, you better too." I think that's where the resistance comes into everything you do to empower people - especially about literacy and learning. If everyone learns more, then those who have power will be held more accountable for their actions. They never seem to learn that if you give everybody a little bit of power, you have a lot more than when you started.

It's hard working in the hospitality industry. Often, the women are immigrants and it can be very frightening. It's very, very degrading to try and work in a job like this, you know. You have to try and find something women can be proud of, whether it's their kids or some other activity. In the hospitality industry you don't get a pat on the back for many of the things you do. I always hope the literacy program will bring up the women's self-esteem.

What I learned

A lot of what I learned from being involved in the research was personal. I learned to speak out more and to believe that I had something to say that was worth saying. It might not always matter to the person I'm talking to at the time but, sooner or later, somebody might listen. Doing this research made me realize that maybe I'm not wrong thinking that I do have some thoughts that will count for something, that maybe people will listen. It was kind of a security blanket: "I'm part of this national research and they want me to be involved, so maybe you should listen to me."