She's Sherrie

Dallas's Finest Work, work, work.  Things at my office still sucked.  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks; you couldn't teach those old dogs anything.  In a million years, if that were possible, nothing would change in that office.  I was looking for a place to transfer to.  Most places required that you have Time in Title requirements, meaning you are stuck where you are for a predetermined amount of time.  Unless the needs of the business dictate that an exception can be made.  So I put in transfers to all of the Business Offices for a job as a service rep.  I didn't care which office it was or how far I had to drive.  I just wanted away from where I was. My boss tried to tell me that I couldn't put the transfer in—wrong chicky doodle. I called and discussed my situation with the Placement Bureau, and they told me exactly what I needed to do.  I was on my way out.  It was just a matter of time. On this day, I had to talk to France about why I wa

In Like Flynn Mustache As soon as I walked into my apartment, my phone started ringing.  I was trying to get the kids in the door with all of their belongings.  As soon as I made it to the phone, it stopped ringing.  No sooner had I taken 2 steps away from it then it started ringing again.  I picked it up, and it was Daniel, the cop.  He wanted to know if I was sure that I couldn't get out.  He wanted to meet me somewhere and have some more coffee and dinner.  I told him it was impossible.  He asked me if we could meet somewhere the following night.  I said yes, provided I could get a babysitter for a couple of hours.  I told him to call me the next day to confirm it. On my way home from work the next day, I spotted a cop car sitting in a service station.  I didn't particularly pay attention to it; I just did a speedometer check to make sure I wasn't speeding.  I wasn't.  I drove on down the road and noticed the cop car was gaining on me.  At the next light, I loo

Dallas PD 1974 My time with my car was coming to an end.  It was cheap, and it ran for a while.  I could get by without a heater or air conditioning, but now it was starting to stall out at the worst possible time.  It had been a nice car at one time but mechanically neglected, and now it was going to have to go away.  The final decision to end our time together came when it stalled out and almost launched my youngest son, Jeff, through the windshield.  He had a set of black eyes that he acquired from jumping up and down on his bed and cracking his head on the headboard.  Twice.  They were just starting to fade out a little, and now he catapulted into the dashboard when the car stalled.  And, of course,  he hit his head again. I had taken Jeff to the emergency room the second time that he hit his head on the bed.  That was a big mistake.  He had a set of black eyes from cracking his head on it the first time.  He was a wild little kid.  I was treated like a child beater in the em

Dallas Tornado I am not a native Texan.  Never was, never will be.  But everyone in my family is except for my two sons and myself.  I never saw a tornado or even hail when I was growing up.  Winters were cold and snowy. Spring brought rain without severe weather, summers were drenched in humidity, and in fall, there was a slight chill in the air and the smell of burning leaves.  Occasionally, late summer might bring leftover hurricane winds and pummeling rain.  But no tornados. Growing up, I would hear stories of tornados ripping through parts of Dallas and causing massive destruction.  My family was always deep in drama and would interject things like the pouring rains generated by the severe weather would turn the Trinity River into "A Walking Dog."  The flooding from the Trinity would generate a call to Noah and the animals to head for safety.  If you are a long time resident of the DFW area, you may recall these events to be somewhat true.  If you have only seen th

Mary and I went to see the new movie, The Exorcist, at a jam-packed theater in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas.  The line waiting to buy tickets for the movie looked as if it went on forever.  There were no multiple screened theaters in those days.  There was one screen per theater location.  Somehow, all of these people, including us, were going to squeeze into this theater.  We were in about the middle of the line, so I knew that we would get in. No families were waiting to see this movie.  There were no older folks in the line either.  The attendees were all young, late teens up to about thirty-something.  It was a Saturday night, so there were a lot of couples in line.  People were talking excitedly about what they were going to see.  I didn't know, but the movie was being advertised everywhere, and there were many news stories about not only the movie but also the crowds flocking to see it.  That made it interesting.  Mary had read the book, but she wasn't giving me any hin

The Girl On The Red Velvet Swing Old San Francisco Saturday night, date night!  First date in a very long time.  First date since MY INDEPENDENCE DAY. First date as a single mom.  First date in my twenties.  First date with a mutual employee.  First date with a France.  Okay, you get it, First Date. I was so excited!  I had to do my hair and find something to wear.  Decisions, decisions.  Not really.  I didn't have that many clothes.  I would wear a dress since we were going to a nice place and because he liked my legs.  I had no idea what to expect as far as the establishment was.  He had just told me that it was a nice place.  He was a pretty savvy guy; I was sure that he knew what he was talking about. I had to take Glen and Jeff to one of the ladies from the daycare, Penny, who loved them and spoiled them like they were hers.  My mom would never babysit for me, and if she did, I would have to pay her and give her money to buy them food.  They would have more fun wi

Now you know who the disrupters were in the office.  The ones who created havoc ruled the roost, stuck their nose where it didn't belong, and kept stirring the stuff in the pot.  But you don't know the others.  There were a few who leaned that way, but they were not totally immersed in that group.  They still had some good in them.   And you haven't heard much about two of the "minorities" in our little group of four outcasts.  And then there was one stand-alone person who didn't hang with anyone. Alma.  Alma was in the same young age group as the four of us.  She was a gorgeous African American young lady that let everyone know that she was only there until she was promoted to a supervisor through the EEO quota system.  She was the one who was called a "colored girl" by Peggenstein and filed a formal complaint.  They let her alone after that.  Occasionally, she might speak to one of us in passing, but that was about it. Daphne.  Daphne was a cou

After working for three months, I got a raise.  And I would get another one in three more months.  Every little bit was important.  Now I had full benefits and a home phone.  And I was off of my 3-month new employee probationary period.  Things were slowly getting better. During my lunch hour one day, I found a lawyer in the Yellow Pages.  His office was downtown and convenient.  I called him and made an appointment.  The only bad thing was that I would have to let my boss know that I would need some excused time off to handle things.  I told her that I hadn't discussed my business with anyone in the office, and if anyone found out, I would only have one person to blame it on.  I told her it was confidential. I met with the lawyer the next week.  He set a court date for 2 weeks for a temporary child support hearing.  He was going to have Mike served the divorce papers at his job.  Progress.  After Mike was served, he would call me at one or two in the morning and scream at

500 S Ervay Now that the stalker was under control, I felt a lot better.  And I had an ace in the hole by the cops knowing about him.  I knew he would leave me alone now.  Creep. It seems I have forgotten to describe the office decor.  If you had ever seen some of the government offices in DC, you would have thought you had been transported back there.  I'm sure that the unknowing public pictures fine furnishings and matching decor in all of those offices.  I'm sure that some offices are nicely furnished, but most are not.  Not then anyway. Our desks looked like Navy surplus desks; they were gray, clunky, metal eyesores with some kind of a semi-hard thick gray mat on them.  The file cabinets were gray, the walls were gray. Most of the people in the office were gray.  It was gray hell.  The floors were dirty gray and discolored beige that looked yellow, linoleum.  And the building was ancient.  There were dips in the floors, the hallways had dirty, old looking carpet.  I

I haven't written much about my Dad, and there is a very good reason for that.  I was never allowed to know him.  My parents divorced when I was about a year old.  I was way too young to form any memory of him.  And that was bad. My whole life, all that I ever heard about him was bad.  The reviews came from my mom and grandmother, and brother, who was only 6 when they divorced.  They talked about him often, obviously having a lot of dislike for him.  I never once asked any questions about him because I was afraid it would open up the snakepit of hate.  My uncle was the only person that never spoke badly about him.  They had been childhood friends and remained friends throughout my mom's marriage. I didn't even know what he looked like in person.  When we lived in Dallas for a while, I got to see him twice.  He lived in Florida but had gone to Dallas to see his family.  When he found out we were there, he asked to come and see us.  I remember the commotion around that.  

Stalker The reason that I did not want anyone to know that I had moved to my own place was simple.  The tall salesman in the office and I will use his name, Jim Green, bothered me.  He was a management employee and should have known better, but sexual harassment laws were not what they are today.  If I had been smart, I would have filed a complaint on him, a formal one, or filed a lawsuit.  But I was young and dumb.  I thought if I ignored him as best as I could that he would leave me alone.  I would have never complained to my supervisor because of the office dynamics that were in place.  And I would never have complained to the manager because he had known him. forever and, well, he was a man, and men stick together. Mr. Green, I refused to call him Jim, always took advantage of opportunities to be around me alone.  If I was in the backroom by myself, he would come back to make copies.  If he saw me in the hall, he would either follow me or stand in my path.  He was very

Jeff, Glen, and Sam, the dog. Moving is one of my least favorite things to do.  I had moved so many times in my life, I just hated it.  But in this case, I would make an exception.  All I was waiting for was the money, and now I had it.  My uncle had found me a car that outwardly looked fine.  I would find out about the mechanical problems as I went along.  It was only $42 bucks a month, can you believe that?  No money down, insurance included with the car payment.  I had to have a car to move in. Now I had the car and went to an apartment complex that I had called.  I gave them the deposit and rent, and I was moving in that weekend.  I had no furniture except my bed and Glen’s bed.  Glen and Jeff had been sharing a bed.  I had sacrificed almost all of my belongings when I escaped from Ohio.  On my way to my mom’s house, I stopped at a little furniture place.  I bought a sofa and chair, and they would deliver them the next day.  It was cheaper than cheap.  I had all of my duck