For various reasons, I have drifted away from the memoir, but I am back for a moment as I consider my current employment as a secretary. It is most unlikely for numerous reasons. The title of this post comes from the euphemism that was quite popular into the 70's in which you would call your secretary or assistant your "gal Friday."
When I got out of college in May of 1979, I was pretty lost as to what I wanted to do. Well - I was just lost, period! I knew that I wanted to work in the media business. Secretly I wanted to be a journalist - in print or broadcast (thank you Mary Tyler Moore!), but I had zero self-confidence, so I was afraid to express that to a single living soul. When I graduated I had a good, albeit general knowledge of the business, but was not trained to be a journalist.
My earliest jobs fell into the category of "glorified secretary." Being a "real" secretary meant going to Katherine Gibbs, knowing steno and typing quickly and having excellent organizational skills. I was none of the above. Plus I went to college! I was smart and going to be important, right?! And I was a woman! Hear me roar! I wasn't some dumb-girl-secretary! Yeah- whatever. Ugh.
Add to that my own vast inner emptiness and unhealed, supperating wounds - which meant that I was not capable of the service that secretarial work required. I did not know at the time that all real work requires deep service, but we will get to that at some other time.
So me being a secretary was unlikely. Me being a glorified secretary meant starting out, so I tried to deal with it.
When my wounds were not oozing, some tiny inner refraction of light revealed that I actually was good with people, so that got me pretty far along the road, but the road was often crumbling with my bad attitude.
And I would *not* make coffee - even when my job required it. My friend Richard, a man about 10 or so years older than I would always try to do that when it was called for, so that I did not have to. God bless this man, he was a savior to me in many ways. (And I still know him!)
Here I am today... After having found my way through the glittery and sparkly pathways of the media world, having made it to the not-quite-corner-but-big-office, I am in the most unlikely of jobs. Not only am I a secretary, but I am a church secretary.
And not only do I serve as a secretary, but I serve as a secretary to a man, a Catholic priest no less, in a Catholic Church.
And I love my job with every fiber of my being.
Unlikely. Most unlikely.
To be continued...
Your writing always touches my heart. Thank you Fran.
ReplyDeleteLet me second that!
ReplyDeleteOur office got a Keurig this year.
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT!
This is great, Fran! You see how our lives work out the way we often don't expect?
ReplyDeleteI am impatiently awaiting the next installments of your stories. Thank you, Fran!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me laugh. My older sister always had an inferiority complex because instead of finishing high school she went to secretarial college and learnt typing and shorthand while her younger brother(me) completed a degree and diploma at university. However her organisational skills are far superior to mine and I have just finished my daily Skype with her as she organises my setting up a new home from 2000 miles away.
ReplyDeleteShe went on to become secretary to the general manager of a large international firm and once I had coffee with her and a younger man from the firm who, after she left, said to me "Gee, I have just had coffee with the Grand Dame of 'Firm'."
Big Businesses could not operate unless someone makes the coffee and vacuums the floor.
It sounds like a most valuable job to me.
ReplyDeleteHow absolutely refreshing. And isn't it amazing that life takes such unusual curves and turns.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting to note that we both landed for a time in the media world. I spend 7 years at CMP (United Business Media now) running Marketing for several technology publications. Now as an individual contributor, I find life is not always as exciting but certainly more manageable.
Everything is really a trade-off isn't it! Sounds like you figured that out too.
My high school guidance counselor tried to route me into typing and other business classes so I could "put my husband through college." I did take typing, but ignored all the rest of it. My organizational skills are nil.
ReplyDeleteMy office can best be described as "3 seconds before creation: total chaos!" But I know where everything is, including that flyer that you can't find in your office.
I don't drink coffee, but I can make a good pot of the stuff--because it was my job to make the first pot for my parents in the morning, and they were Chemex Drip folks way back.
I think we have a talent for finding what suits our heart's desire, if we are open to change.
@Shanah - I love you, thank you so much for coming by to read and comment. My life is so richly blessed because you are both my relative and my beloved friend. xoxoxo
ReplyDelete@Goran - you are about the nicest person ever. I hope that I get to meet you one day.
@Paul - glad you like the Keurig. And the fruit of your labor is present in my both my life and my office, so everything really is connected!
@Kim - thank you so much for saying that! It is all pure gift and pure adventure.
@Claire - merci mon ami, it is such a treasure to be church with you on the intertubes.
@Brian - that is something. I know how your sister is a great help to you, even from afar, now that you have moved!
@Doorman-Priest - I will simply say that I think you are a bit prejudiced!!
@Yvonne - Are you the Yvonne I think you are? Whoever you are -welcome! And yes - trade offs but no matter what there are gifts.
@Shannon - Wow. You are the epitome of finding your heart's desire. Your ministry inspires me every day as I pray for you and pray for your men.
Oh Fran, unlikely, yes, but wonderful isn't it? The way God works in our lives?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read more (oooo, hope I don't miss it?).
Lovely, sad and uplifting all at once.
ReplyDeleteThis is all so interesting to read! You have such a gift for writing and remembering. I'm a decade older than you; in 1979 my first child (of four) was born and you were starting college.
ReplyDeleteBeing her boss, I must say she has not yet made me coffee, but who cares, she's the the boss of the office and the place just hums along. She really is nice to have around the house (parish office), even if she is loud!
ReplyDeleteHey! You're not the boss of me!
ReplyDeleteOh wait, @J, you are!! Damn. I hate when that happens.
J! What are you doing here? And yes, PB was right, loud I am, but you seem to have adapted nicely.
As have I!
Thanks for stopping by and blessing the blog.
Fran, as always, great post and another of so many ways we are alike - I could never type. Like you, wanted to be a reporter - specifically sports. Didnt have the self confidence....thought when I got out of Oz that I was going to be a wife and mother. Funny how life has other plans .... after 23 years in a wonderful broadcast and production career, I became a secretary as I started over again and I was TERRIBLE at it! It ain't as easy at it looks!!! My only saving grace is that I, like you, am good with people - which has opened doors for me too! Love and hugs.
ReplyDeleteLove this post for many reasons. Like every other woman (my age) on the planet, I did my stint as a secretary and actually loved the job. I loved tidying things/people up. But because I didn't like being treated like a low-level servant (1970s) I got involved with WOW (Women Office Workers) and organizing clerical workers. Got fired for that! Sued a small multi-national company for sex-based discrimination (1970s) and so forth and so on. I became so fascinated by what happened to clerical work once it got "feminized," that I focused my masters level work on the topic! Does any of this come as a surprise? Yeah, didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteFran, your continuing saga is a lovely read. If you write more episodes, I may not read them, because I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of the TV series that is sure to follow.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've found a place that fits you, and that you love.
ReplyDeleteFran, I feel an undercurrent here--a moral that says being where we're supposed to be trumps being where we're told we should be. Our "success principle" fails us by pushing talented people to seek wealth and status, rather than sharing their gifts where they're most needed. You've succeeded in breaking that mold!
ReplyDelete