^{Photo from Canva Pro, edited by @hetty-rowan}

Hi ladies of hive,

nice topic, I'm very curious about the stories, Here are my stories about this time.😇

Depending on your age, let's have some fun as we go back and reflect on changes over time.

50 years ago, what do you remember as a woman -vs- what is happening in the world today. One memory and what the change has been, positive or negative. ?

50 years ago

Unfortunately I remember bizarre little of this time, since I was 2 then. I was only 2 years old at that time.

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40 years ago, what do you remember as a woman -vs- what is happening in the world today. One memory and what the change has been, positive or negative. ?

40 years ago

It's going to get a bit more here, because about 40 years ago I was 12. And I have good memories of that time, we were always outside with all the kids who lived on the same street. We hung out in the playground. We ran around with boys and girls, and played curbs, jumping rope in the middle of the street. In wintertime when the temperature went below zero the meadow at the end of the street was flooded by the fire brigade so we could go ice skating. 😊 In the evening the ice rink was lit and there was, what we call in Dutch "koek en zopie", a very free translation of this would be like "cookies and chocolate". Only difference is that they usually don't sell cookies, but rye bread with bacon and pea soup instead. And yes, of course, they do sell hot chocolate with whipped cream if you wish. We enjoyed that very much. To be able to take care of our needs in the open air in the freezing cold!

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30 years ago, what do you remember as a woman -vs- what is happening in the world today. One memory and what the change has been, positive or negative. ?

30 years ago

So around this time I was 22, we went to the disco on the weekend, and literally every night, from Friday to Sunday evening. Trying to find work during the day, getting frustrated when it didn't work out again. Luckily, there were fruit and vegetable nurseries!! There you could "illegally" earn some extra money, so that you could supplement your benefit and therefore go out all weekend 😁😁

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20 years ago, what do you remember as a woman -vs- what is happening in the world today.

20 years ago

During this time I was completely happy, because I could finally go to work, I was welcome in the Sheltered Employment Service!! And I was able to start at IBN, a large employment agency in our region with a variety of jobs. I started working as a support for administrative staff, I did that for 1.5 years and then that job stopped, that position was reclassified.

But they had helped me find another job, I was going to become a telephone operator / receptionist at the same company, and so I continued to work in Uden, but now at the desk. In the beginning it was a difficult start, because I had, and still have, a kind of telephone fear, I always have to muster the courage to call someone 😶. Fortunately I didn't have to call much, because as a telephone operator you receive the calls and don't have to make much calls yourself. As a receptionist I sometimes had to cross that threshold, but that became easier, because I quickly got to know the people within the company, and they helped me with that problem.

My funniest memory of this time was when people came to apply for the position of Director of Facilities. I was sitting at the desk, so they all came to report to us. The executive secretary had very neatly e-mailed a note with the names of the applicants, so we knew who was coming and what time they were expected. When the applicant came in we had to call the executive secretary to have come and pick up the applicant.

That was of course an “exciting” thing, because it meant that he or she would also become our director, because our position came under facilities. Our team leader sat next to me at the counter. When the applicants came we also went to “assess” these. As soon as we saw one person coming in we immediately said, that's going to be him. We thought he had a Scrooge McDuck look and also the walk of a duck. We really said immediately to each other, "That's going to be him!". And yes, he was, unfortunately he had heard our comment, but luckily he had a great laugh about it, and he started calling us his Katrientjes (Katrien is the Dutch name for Daisy Duck). And when I went to work in Oss because I could get more hours there than in Uden, it was a joke between the director and me 😆.

When that man came in he always said, say Katrientje, will you let us know that Scrooge McDuck has arrived??? 😀 My colleagues in Oss were surprised when this happened the first time, because my name is really very different from Katrientje. And in terms of clothing, well, as a receptionist you are the business card of a company, so we got neat trousers, with a blouse, blazer, and scarf and later also a waistcoat for the summer days. In the blue!

Later still, when my complaints increased, I was transferred to the production department of the company, also in Oss. Here too, you had to wear company clothing, a shirt with long sleeves because of packing food. A hairnet and black cargo pants, with safety shoes, everything was provided by the company.

My style at home

At home I prefer to walk in comfortable pants, with a blouse of sweatshirt, sometimes a little dress with leggings. And shoes, well the safety shoes are still in my possession, and i wear them often. Walking shoes, and boots, never a pump because of my knee and ankle problems.

The world is changing at a rapid pace

The years have changed, so has my life and my style. It's funny looking back. At the same time, it gives me a bit of a nostalgic feeling. I'm getting old! I'm curious what my life will look like in 10 years, that's not a question for today so I'm not going to write anything about that. But I do hope that in 10 years I will be able to look back on the past 10 years. Undoubtedly, a lot has changed. And with the pace at which the world is changing right now, and especially the way the world is changing, I think we can say… The past is interesting, we can learn a lot from it, but above all, let's keep trying to to make good the future for every person on earth!