“Oh my God! Another woman claiming sexual harassment from like 30 years ago! Let it go!”

Sigh.

I was waiting for a coffee this morning when I overheard a woman exclaim that.

The news had just mentioned the recent sexual harassment allegations against Tom Brokaw. Yes. That Tom Brokaw.

This coming to light just one day after we all learned that “America’s Dad” wasn’t so wholesome after all. Bill Cosby was sexually assaulting women for years. Heck…decades.

I bit my tongue as I waited for my no-frills black coffee. I thought about engaging in some conversation with her…maybe share my thoughts. Instead, I had the conversation in my head…it’s safer that way:

I don’t care if it’s 5 minutes…5 years…50 years. It is never too late to speak up.

When we roll our eyes at women who come forward years later, we are sending the message to our children that they should just “let it go.”

Nope.

For all of the couch critics who want to unleash on the women who come forward years later…I wonder if you’ve ever worked in a “boys club” atmosphere. Where the rules are different for your male counterparts. Where speaking up or voicing concern translates into whining or causing drama.

There is a reason so many people keep silent: fear.

Fear of embarrassment. Fear of retaliation. Fear of nobody believing them. Fear of losing their job. Fear of being blacklisted from their profession.

Fear.

It’s easy to criticize what we don’t know.

Maybe the fact that they waited so long to come forward doesn’t make any sense to you. But it doesn’t have to. This is their story… Their experience.

Ladies – we finally have a voice…we are finally being heard.

Maybe we’ll soon start to uplift one another.

Baby steps.