Family Forum / Parenting / Mothers / January 2005

Hey Guys,

This is the story where I was the proudest of myself.  Buckle up!  This will
probably be a biggie!  (I can hear you snicker from here!  My posts are
always Biggies!!  *wink wink)

A few years ago, I guess I was having some sort of mid-life crisis.  I
wasn't happy with my job or my surroundings.  I felt a needed a change.  A
big change.  I quit my job and planned on moving away to Birmingham, AL.
(For your guys across the pond, that's about 7 states away from
Pennsylvania)  I just wanted to scratch everything here, make a fresh start,
be in warm weather and be gutsy and independent.  Moving away all by myself
and starting over was a very exciting idea and just the thought of it, made
me feel liberated.  I went there, stayed about a week and a half and
thought, "It's a nice place to visit, but I wanna go home".  I couldn't even
wait for my return flight, so I took the rent-a-car, bought a road map of
the United States, a tank of gas, a Pepsi and a pack of cigarettes and drove
home.  I got to see states that I've only ever flew over in an airplane and
I realized what a beautiful country I lived in. The closer I got to home,
the better I felt.

When I got back here, I lived off of my savings for about 4 months while I
looked for another job.  I had a clerical background and that were the jobs
I was going for.  I had also had experience with taking care of the elderly.
My last position at a local bank, I was an Administrative Assistant III, so
that's the jobs I was applying for, without much success.  The jobs weren't
paying very well and I started to regret my decision about quitting the
bank.  I couldn't go back there because they had already filled my position.
I had to start all over.  Money was getting tight and on one particular
Monday morning, I spent the day on the phone balancing my checkbook and
calling the bank where I had my car loan trying to defer some of my
payments.  I was getting scared.   I wasn't able to pay my bills for much
longer and I didn't know what to do.  I tried to be optimistic, but I was
still scared to death.

That afternoon I had a job interview at an assisted living facility just
down the road from where I lived with my Mom.  The ad in the paper was for
Administrative Assistant, so I applied.  I got there and I was so impressed
with the inside of this facility.  It was beautiful!  Very classy and these
elderly people all looked happy and healthy and you could tell they loved it
there.  The woman who was supposed to interview me was running a little
late, so one of the staff members gave me a tour.  There were even some of
the tenants that I recognized.  One particular woman used to work at the
local hospital and she remembered me from when I worked at the hospital 10
years prior.  It was nice to see her.

After the tour, the staff member put me in the conference room to wait.  The
woman who was to interview me arrived 10 minutes later and we started the
interview.  I liked this woman and we seemed to hit it off immediately.  One
of the first things she said was "Oh, I owe you an apology.  The ad in the
paper was worded wrong.  This isn't a position for an administrative
assistant.  The ad should've said "Assistant Administrator".  I was a little
upset with this announcement because I thought to myself .."Great...they'll
never even consider me for this job.  It sounds too much like a manager
position......what a waste of pantyhose!"  But, I went on with the
interview.  She told me the title was "Associate Program Director" and said
she'd give me a job description before I left.  The interview was about 30
minutes and I thought it went well, even though I knew I'd never be
considered.

This woman was very nice and she was also very tiny.  She probably wasn't
4'10 and didn't weigh 100lbs soaking wet,  there I was sitting there with my
5'8 large frame and my 3 inch heels to boot!  I had been sitting down the
whole time and when we were wrapping up the interview, I started to get a
little self-conscious about our height difference.  I was feeling a little
bold I guess because I figured I wouldn't be a candidate so I kind of warned
her about my height.  I said, "Thank you, Tracy, but I must warn you, I'm
pretty tall and you haven't seen me stand up yet!"  We both started to laugh
and when I did stand up, I towered over her little frame!  The look on her
face was pretty funny and we laughed again.  She escorted me to the door and
said she'd make her decision by the end of the week.  In other words, I'd
never hear from her again.  I shook her hand again and walked out to my car.
Then I realized, she never gave me that job description.  I really wanted to
see it.  So, I marched right back in there (she had already taken the next
candidate to the conference room) and I knocked on the door.  I'm figuring I
had nothing to lose.  "Excuse me......I'm sorry, but you said you would give
me a job description and I don't have it".  You could tell she was kind of
startled, but she complied.  She went to the office and made a copy of it.
I thanked her and left the building.

I went home chuckling.  I couldn't believe I was gutsy enough to barge into
her next interview and I even stood over her while she gave me that damn job
description!  But I did.  Oh well, I screwed that up, "keep looking Joyce" I
thought to myself.

The next day after combing the classified section and eating a big lunch, I
decided to take a nap.  My phone rang and I didn't recognize the number on
my caller ID.  I almost didn't answer it, but what the hell, I might as
well.  It was that little woman from the interview the day before!  I
couldn't believe it!  She identified herself and said, "I was just wondering
if you had any more questions about the position we discussed yesterday".
I had to quickly think of a question.  She sort of caught me off guard.  We
talked a few minutes and she said, "Well, I would like to offer you the
position.".....my response was "Oh Yeah!  Well, I'd like to take it!!"  We
both laughed so hard!  "When can you start?".....my response was "tomorrow
morning".  We figured out a place to meet, and I started work the very next
day!

My first day was quite an experience.  We visited one of the facilities I
would help manage and because this was SO new to me, I didn't know what to
expect.  We walked in and within a half an hour, I had an employee give me
one of her resumes.  She thought I could help her get promoted.  I was
floored!  My first half an hour at my new position and I had an employee
trying to "suck up" to me!  Very strange.

The job was quite an experience.  It was wonderful.  I had the opportunity
to be listened to.  I had the opportunity to meet such wonderful people.  I
was looked up to.  I was respected.  I was accepted.  I was feared by some
people (that was really, really weird and something I didn't enjoy, BTW).  I
could conduct meetings.  I could hire people.  I could fire people
(something else I absolutely hated!).  I was a professional.  I had a career
and not just a "job".  I was good at it.  I found that could make a
difference.  I found my nitch.

All that ended after 2 & 1/2 wonderful years when there was a supervisor
restructure and my position was eliminated.  Shortly there after, I got
pregnant and then married and now I'm a stay-at-home mom.  Another job I
think I'm good at.

I just wanted to share a little bit about my professional life.........

Time to wake up now!!  Story is over!

Love ya,

Joyce
Mommy to Charles
Wife to James<<<the man I love