Work

Antics

Posted to Work on 20 October 2007, with 5 comments so far.

by Nancy—Age 34—Brecksville, OH My job? High school English teacher. Specifically, I teach regular and honors tenth-grade English, plus one section of creative writing. Most of us have survived high school, and we know what English teachers do—they assign essays, make kids read out loud, lecture endlessly about blah blah blah stuff, stuff like Transcendentalism, [...]

Jewelry Sales

Posted to Work on 18 October 2007, with no comments so far.

by Windy—Age 37—Phoenix, AZ As I packed my new scarf and gloves for this week’s trip to New York I thought back to how I got here. Ten years ago I got a job at Nordstrom in the jewelry department. I lived in Spokane, Washington, five hours away from Seattle and the only major city [...]

Christmas

Posted to Work on 14 October 2007, with 1 comment so far.

Sometimes, when I was seventeen, I almost wanted to cry as we hacked the nubs off the branch tips of the Scotch pine trees growing on the B— Christmas Tree Farm. I liked the raw physical nature of the work, but Heidi, Mr. B—’s beautiful, if tomboyish daughter, had a big crush on my cousin [...]

Secret

Posted to Work on 12 October 2007, with 1 comment so far.

by Marianne—Age 48—Redwood City, CA I was once a researcher for the Philippine President’s Special Research Project. I had no idea what being a research assistant entailed. Since I was referred by an English teacher who frequently praised my writing, I thought I would get to write. My boss was RPP, a well-known graphic artist, [...]