The palm reader giggled as he ran a finger over my hand. “You’ll be poor and you’ll be rich, but you’ll always be bad with money. Fortunately, you’ll also always have someone to take care of you.” I rolled my eyes. I just wasn’t that kind of girl.
We were waitresses, all of us, with different stash spots for tips. Mine was a tattered old envelope in my underwear drawer. I kept the amount written on the front, scratched out and rewritten over and over, to keep myself in the know and to protect from unlikely thievery.
I got my first clue things were shifting when they changed the name of the Personnel Department to Human Resources. That title brought to mind bodies wearing pressed suits and hanging from huge hooks, cycling around on a motorized rack like the one in the dry cleaners. A neat filing system, it displayed unlimited selections to replace the used-up models that had been piled into the roll-off dumpster in the alley. My second clue arrived the morning after the merger papers were signed.
Her words stop me cold, freeze my deep and purposeful breathing.
“What,” I think, “did that crazy hippie lady just say?”
I try to resume the assigned task, mindfully inhaling the chilled air of the fitness center and balancing my sharp sitz bones on a borrowed blue cushion. I will my swirling mind to settle softly like a leaf to the ground. But Mary Love continues to hijack my piss-poor attempts at being in the now.
By Skirt.com, Tuesday, December 01, 2009, 13 comments
moved from one end of the office building to the other, everyone jockeyed to get a desk near the windows. Not me. I chose the desk no one wanted way back in the corner. I preferred privacy to a view.
Not that I got much privacy. My micro-managing supervisor invaded my personal space daily. He peered over my shoulder watching my keystrokes, wanted to know my every move, called me into his office constantly to question my actions. Once I got dragged back to his lair from in front of the elevator at 5pm on a Friday.
“Come to my office,” he ordered. “I want to discuss next week’s objectives.” Talk about feeling like a caged wild animal. I daydreamed of escape.
Unfortunately, the career ladder I counted on climbing kept losing rungs. Government cuts reduced the number of available statistics positions and I faced a shrinking pool of jobs in a bumpy economy. I wasn’t married. No opportunities existed for me to quit and fall back on a mate’s salary until the job market picked up. Yet, I feared for my mental health if I didn’t get out of this soul-stifling environment.
By Skirt.com, Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 1 comments
Feed the Pig’s mascot, Benjamin, creeped me out a bit, but not nearly as much as the zero balance in my savings account. Benjamin has lots of tips and tools to help you find ways to save. As an added bonus, they have a special site for tweens.
By Lucky Mama, Friday, November 20, 2009, 0 comments
Story by Ray Westbrook/Photos by John A. Bowersmith
In the realm of adventure, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have nothing to boast about in the presence of Sue Ellen Haning and Jenny Cudd.
The mother-daughter travelers - one 56 and the other 21 - each stuffed a 20-pound backpack with all the belongings they would need for three months of hiking in Italy, and took along only a moderate amount of cash with no credit cards.
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"I understand hardship a little bit more now, because every day of that trip I had no idea where I was going to be sleeping that night," Sue Ellen recalls.
By Lucky Mama, Thursday, October 22, 2009, 0 comments
Those who know Linda Gaither describe her as a servant leader, tireless, outgoing, hilarious and giving. She’s known for setting an example for others in her personal life and as a Realtor.
Linda was recently named Woman of the Year by Altrusa of Lubbock. She also was the chairwoman of the Lubbock Centennial Committee and has served as president of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. Her long list of civic involvement has included volunteering for Hospice of Lubbock’s Mayors’ Beans and Cornbread Luncheon. And she was still a student at Lubbock Christian College when she helped cook donated food to feed volunteers and victims of the tornado that struck Lubbock in 1970.
Earlier this year, Don Caldwell, Caldwell, music producer and Cactus Theater owner, talked to The Avalanche-Journal about Gaither.
"She is a true community leader and brings a spirit of cooperation to any project she chairs or is a part of,” said Caldwell, who worked with her on the Centennial Committee. “Her objectivity is beyond reproach. I can't imagine life in Lubbock without Linda Gaither."
By Skirt.com, Thursday, October 01, 2009, 0 comments
a friend, fellow room mom or student to run for office with She Should Run. The project was started by the Women’s Campaign Forum after various studies showed that women don’t think to run for office unless someone asks. Women win at the same rate as men, get more in the pipeline!
By Skirt.com, Thursday, October 01, 2009, 2 comments
At the beginning of the current economic upheaval, I was forced, as were so many single women I know, to cut my expenses severely. Like other women, I realized I would need to begin by divesting myself of the household help. The first to go were the chauffeur, the butler, the day cook and the bartender, all of whom knew I hated to see them leave. I watched them trudge slowly as a group down the long driveway to the wrought-iron gate, heads held high, attempting to disguise their reluctance. I personally will never forget that morning, though I hope they will in time.
Wiping away a few tears with the tip of my scarf, I found myself handing pink slips that very same day to the gardener, the personal trainer, the concierge and the onsite hairstylist, most of whom seemed to have sensed it coming. I suppose I was the last to admit how dire my circumstances had become. With these mainstays on the way out, I couldn’t rationalize retaining other key personnel, so I wrote out a brand new batch of slips for the spiritual advisor, pastry chef and piano-tuner, the latter slightly less difficult to let go of since I discovered I’ve never actually owned a piano. I asked the accountant to write out his own slip, for I felt he really should have had the foresight to offset this particular crisis in the first place.
moved from one end of the office building to the other, everyone jockeyed to get a desk near the windows. Not me. I chose the desk no one wanted way back in the corner. I preferred privacy to a view.
