I don't remember exactly when it was that I started to think about the "These Women" episode of The West Wing in relation to the women I work with but once I started, I couldn't stop. It was perfect. For about 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, I'm surrounded by five women, who while they couldn't be more different from each other, somehow band together day after day to make mine and everyone else's life better with that indefinable mix of empathy and nurture that males can't begin to fathom.
So, even though I hestiate to do it, just because it's like an amateur boxer beginning his training by fighting Ali in his prime, I'm using Aaron Sorkin's writing as a starting point. Here's my tribute to the women on the Finance team at Cardinal Health's Consulting and Services.
Helen - "like a 50's movie star, so capable, loving and energetic." Helen is the glue of our group. With a soft, polite yet firm voice she serves as the only buffer between the rest of us and utter chaos. Sometimes it's not more than once a day, but her "Are you doin' ok?" goes a long, long way. It makes everyone feel better and keeps us all going.
Samantha and Jo - "going to toe-to-toe with men in a world that tells women to sit down and shut up." These two couldn't be more different, the small town white girl and the single black mother from the city, but trust me, you do not want to go up against either of them. Their resilience and ability to stand their ground is, at the risk of hyperbole, inspiring. They not only take it to the men they have to deal with professionally, but they do it while overcoming the hurt that men have caused them personally, Jo continuing to singlehandedly create the best possible life for little Jania even after Jania's father left, and Samantha putting up with a negligent boyfriend because she wants so much to start a family of her own. For the record, you deserve much, much better Sam.
Judy - The transplanted New Yourican. The salt of the earth. Day after day, she comes early and stays late and grinds out another honest day's work. She keeps things together and moving and while on paper she may seem to be the least educated, she's a testament to the fact that if you show up, work hard and "always do the right thing" (Helen's mantra), that's a reward in and of itself. I especially love the fact that no matter what, even if they just hung up and are calling back to mention something they forgot to say two seconds ago, she ends every single call with her son or her husband with "Love You".
Cheryl - If my mother were white, with blond hair and blue eyes and born and raised in Texas, she would be Cheryl. It never ceases to amaze how two people with such disparate backgrounds can find themselves to be the exact same person, at least to me.
"Sheelpi, you shouldn't be drivin' at night" (night, of course coming out more like naat , in her Texas accent); echoes into
"Sheelpi, rathre gari chalaish na"
It's like I enter some bizarro world every day when I walk into work, a world where my mother is now a white lady working at the desk next to me, still hounding me and giving me unsolicited advice, but ultimately, caring for me and making sure I'm happy and well and safe. Cheryl met and married the only man she ever loved at age 20 and never looked back. She raised two kids and now, for six months at least, she made the life of this world-weary 23-year-old ungrateful and jaded Bangladeshi-American a million times better. If it wasn't for her, my move to Houston amidst all the hurt and chaos in my personal life would've left me broken I'm sure, and, just by being there day after day with her smile and innocent, childlike questions about today's pop culture, she kept me sane and quieted the turmoil in my head even when I had to return to Austin to confront once again the greatest loss I've ever experienced. I don't really know what else to say except Thanks Cheryl.
"Everything will be okay Sheelpi, I promise"
*****
Some linkseses:
More reasons why Republicans suck
"On July 4th of this year, police say, the Secret Service directed them to arrest a couple for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts at a presidential speech in West Virginia -- despite the fact that the speech was open to the public."
Arrested for wearing a shirt? Are we still in America?
Finally, believe it or not, some positive stories from the Olympics.
The World's Fastest Man is American and NOT on drugs
They survived being tortured by Uday Hussein, and now they're kicking everyone's ass in soccer, I Love It (also another reason why Republicans suck, who does Bush think he is taking credit for this?)
*****
after Josh's therapy session with Stanley Keworth, Josh inquires why Leo is trying to help him
' This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey, you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, "Father, I'm down in this hole. Can you help me out?" The priest writes a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey, Joe, it's me. Can you help me Out" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you nuts? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before - and I know the way out." '
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Posted by: Brigit at February 23, 2010 12:16 AM