NEVER...EVER...GIVE UP HOPE : secretary

When I was a little girl, I preferred to make believe I was a secretary rather than playing with dolls as most girls did. I chose secretary because I loved to organize, keep notes and pretend to work for someone 'important.'

In the 1950s-60s, career choices for women were generally limited by occupations in nursing, teaching, secretarial or as an airline stewardess.

After high school graduation, every job I applied for I got and quickly realized I could start to write my own ticket. My first job was for the Veterans Administration, but I found it tedious. Although my next two jobs for prestigious law firms were exciting, my goal was to be my own boss.

Then I saw it. The newspaper ad said "Wanted: Gal Friday/Office Manager. Must be able to work independently and have excellent skills." I applied. I got it.

The job was an office manager for a construction company and it was located in a lumberyard. My boss never had a secretary before and he wanted me to set up the offices and run all aspects of the business while he worked in the field. He was a commercial builder of huge projects; apartment complexes, hotels, and office buildings.

I ordered the necessary equipment and set up the office. When we were ready to move into the new office space, I asked for his previous office records. He opened the trunk of his big, shiny new Cadillac and showed me several boxes overflowing with receipts and invoices.

Sorting through it all, I came to realize that a lot of people owed him a lot of money! When I confronted him with this he said he didn't have the time to worry about it. This was in the 1960s and $60,000 in past due debt was a small fortune. I told him that I was willing to collect on these and he said I could keep half of whatever I collected.

I knew that I would be dealing with some 'rough around the edges' characters. Then I had a brilliant idea. I found the biggest and burliest man I could find and offered him $20 a day. All he had to do was go with me to the various businesses that owed my boss money. He didn't have to say a word. He was just to stand behind me with his arms crossed.

Do I really have to tell you what happened? I collected on every single one. My boss was so impressed he told me to give myself a raise whenever and for whatever amount I wanted. I stayed with him for several years and loved my job immensely.

I was able to move into any unit I wanted to live in whenever I felt like upgrading. He gave me a car to drive and an expense account. My husband and I spent weekends at his cottage or on his boat.

I stayed with him until he retired and we both cried. Ours was a great relationship and I had the best secretarial job anyone could have ever hoped for.

In later years, I started a business teaching office organization to corporation's secretarial pools. It was not the challenge I needed and extremely boring. These secretaries were only interested in getting a paycheck and not improving their skills.