Dear Peggy Ewell,
I was tested on the IBM Selectric. I typed an embarrassing 13 words a minute. They told me to relax and type again. I improved. I typed 15 words per minute. The HR Manager, Ruth, called me in her office. She told me that I got the highest score in the aptitude test they give for the administrative/clerical staff. She asked if I would be interested in another job; the Manager of the Word Processing Group would like to interview me. It was 1975. No one has ever heard of personal computers. I wanted to be a clerk typist at the Air Line Pilots Association. I was not good enough to be a professional typist! Then you came and asked me if I would be interested to work with her group as a telecommunications analyst. I would be paid $7,200 a year! Did I just die and go to heaven?
I was trained to operate the teletype machine at Western Union, by a gentleman named Pete. Back at the office, I was given my own desk, phone, an electric date stamp that sounds like a snapping turtle, and my own stapler and tape dispenser. Life was good. My job was to relay messages between the main office to the different field offices and the United Kingdom. The teletype is a noisy but interesting machine. When we want to call each other’s attention say in our field office in Burlingame, I would press a key that rings on the other end. It sounded like an ice cream truck with the urgency of a fire engine. Peggy, thank you for your kindness and the opportunities you gave me. I remember you almost falling out of your chair when you heard me speak in Tagalog for the first time. You encouraged me when I told you I wanted to take some courses at the university. You also asked me if I would be interested in reconciling word processing accounting figures. To help me with this function you allowed me to take home a calculator which was so huge it resembled the original Rosetta stone. One time there was a huge airline strike. I was receiving the teletype messages from the late Charlton Heston, who I remembered was the honorable gentleman who received the Ten Commandments. I was also typing responses to him - what an honor to send a telegram to Moses! It was chaotic. We needed a statement from the association’s president to the POTUS. We printed it and the next day you said, “Okay, we just have to be careful next time so Captain O’Donnell does not have to explain to the US President why the telegram printed ‘shit’ when we meant ‘shift’.” Then you smiled at me and said, “Rats! We all know it can really get shitty sometimes.”
One afternoon, you invited me to have coffee at the cafeteria then we sat outside just watching the world go by. I asked you if you had ever been so sad in your life, if anyone has ever made you feel so inconsequential. You said, “The person I loved passed away so that hurts and it makes me sad. You should leave anyone living who does not make you happy.” I did not say a word; I was too embarrassed to say anything more. The next day, I approached you. “Peggy, I want a raise.” You responded, “I will give you a raise as long as you have a telephone installed in your apartment so you can call for help.” You must have known, Peggy, you must have known. All those time I told you I fell, I slid, I bumped into something…
Towards the end of my first year working with you, I approached you again. “Peggy I am leaving. I will work at the U.S. Senate.” “You are going to work in Capitol Hill? You will love it there. That’s super!” “Listen, you are smart, promise me that you will walk away from whoever is hurting you and holding you back.” “I will, Peggy.”
I left Peggy; it took me sometime but I finally found myself again. I left anyone and everything that made me sad. I heard you married an airline pilot. I would have been disappointed if that were not the case. With regard to me, I fared very, very well. The immigrant is no longer. Rats!
she gave good advice.....
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