Sharon and the Boys

The following story is true. It took place in 1968 and I am repeating it from memory so aspects of what I retell may be inaccurate. If anybody remembers when this story was in the news please feel free to weigh in, especially if you remember any of this story differently than I relate it. This happened 51 years ago when I was 20. So some facts may be fuzzy.

I never met Sharon although at one point in 1968 I saw her almost every work day of the week. I would guess she was in her mid twenties back then. I would not say her face would stop a clock but she was not beautiful either. What she did have was the most beautiful breasts I had ever seen. To this day I have no recollection of ever seeing a more (excuse the pun) outstanding pair.

When she entered a room her ass would come in about three minutes after her tits. I would have to say she was at least a forty-six chest and I am sure double d or better cups. Not only that, she always, always, always wore the tightest sweaters she could possibly fit into. When she walked down the street everyman she passed would stare at her with our mouths hanging open. Even the gay ones stared. Needless to say she endured a lot of comments from a lot of crass men back then.

Every day at noon she climbed out of the subway station at Wall and Broad Sts. She would walk south on Broad St. past the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to Beaver St and then turn right to get to her job as a key puncher at the Bank of New York at number 2 Broadway. Everybody working in that part of the financial district knew her at least by sight.

In 1968 the financial markets were having what later was called a paperwork crisis. Up until that time the largest volume day on the NYSE was 16 million shares in 1929 the day the market crashed. BY 1968 the volume was usually 8 million shares daily and sometimes as much as 14 million. This was right at the cusp of the computer age and although most firms had computers, programs had not yet been developed to interact properly with the business at hand and may have actually made things worse.

Anyway the paperwork crisis got so bad that it was beginning to threaten some very large companies that were unable to keep up with the demands of the business. The crisis was beginning to have some serious financial consequences. Somebody came up with the idea that if the Exchange closed on Wednesdays it would help back offices catch up with the backlog and get everybody on track again. That worked for the most part.

So while there was no trading on Wednesdays all of the employees working in the NYSE including clerks, pages and runners were all required to report to work in case the operations personnel had questions that they might have answers to. Most of these guys (they were all guys, the glass ceiling was in full force and effect) would hang around outside the NYSE smoking cigarettes and bull shitting. Usually there was a hundred or more of them and the numbers about doubled around lunchtime.

One beautiful Wednesday in late September Sharon exited the subway as usual at right about noon as she did every work day and was greeted by about 200 young men admiring her assets, as she started her walk. As far as I know somebody in the crowd made a remark to her, no doubt about her chest and she said something back. What ever she said created a huge response from the men and they all started following her and taunting her. I believe it was all done in fun and I watched many of the men walking back after having teased her. I always watched from 25 Broad St just down and across the street from the (NYSE).

At the time I expected that was the end of it, but the next day when she showed up for work there were maybe as many as a thousand men waiting for her. They did the same thing as Wednesday following her part way to work and then dispersing. By Friday there were 5000 men waiting for her and all gathering only by word of mouth. How she got to work I have no idea. There were so many people there I only caught a glimpse of her from across the street.

The story was gathering steam and growing legs of its own. According to the Wall Street Journal on Monday there were 100,000 people in the area waiting to follow her to work. She had to be given a police escort to work and when she got there was promptly fired. I always felt sorry for her after this. She did nothing wrong and was fired simply because of the actions of others. I am sure she got little more than two weeks severance pay for her departure.

This started a huge fad of topless women appearing on Wall St. usually around the old treasury building where Washington bade farewell to his troops. I remember a topless band from Lake George or Lake Placid performing on a flat bed truck, a topless witch casting a spell on all of us for great sex lives (it didn't take for me) and even Yoko Ono and a group of others taking off their clothes there and getting arrested.

About six months later I read a newspaper article where she said she never made a nickel from all of the publicity surrounding this story. I heard some time later that she took a job at a strip club in Florida and to my knowledge was never heard from publicly again.

I am not a women's libber, don't support #metoo or the women's march with their pink vagina hats. I do believe in civil and equal rights as well as equal pay for equal work and have always felt this woman was mistreated by our society for something she had at very best minimal control of.

The last I remember hearing was she was working as a stripper somewhere down in Florida. I can't remember where I heard that and it was never verified but I do hope she had a better life after all this.

Again as God is my witness this is a true story and I have related the events to the best of my knowledge and recollection.