I Am Woman

Strong Women

Soon, it would be the end of 1973.  I was recuperating from my surgery at my mom's place and going crazy.  Turmoil was the name of the game at her place.  She and my brother talked loud; even if you ssshd them, the volume level would still be louder than a normal person's speaking voice.  And my brother talked incessantly, as in he never shut his mouth.  You couldn't watch television and know what was going on because of the blabbering.  I'm surprised that my eyes didn't stay rolled up in my head permanently.  Add the voices of two toddlers fighting over toys or just fighting.  And the dog barking.  There is no other way to say it; it just sucked being there.

I was getting disability insurance from my employer while I was off.  They were nice enough to keep me on the payroll so that the insurance would pay for my time off.  I had six weeks of coverage, and then they would take me off the payroll.  I didn't tell anyone that I was getting that money.  It was going to be saved so that I could get the heck out of Dodge.  My brother was always screaming at my mom about money, always.  One would think that they were married.  He wanted her to get a part-time job in addition to her full-time job.  My mom was just bad with money, and between the two of them, they were not very cognisant about turning lights off when not in use, and she went to the grocery store every night.  I could see where this was all heading; it was going to be pointed at me.

I started looking at the help wanted ads in the paper just for the heck of it.  I hadn't healed enough to start working yet.  The pay was pretty low in those days, and I would have to pay a big chunk of money out for childcare.  And I didn't have a car.  How was I even going to get to work?  It was all so depressing.  Freedom was costly.

After about 5 weeks of listening to bedlam all of the time, I just couldn't take it anymore.  I went downtown to look for a job.  I don't know why, but I went to Southwestern Bell to apply for a job.  It was just a block or two from where I had worked at the insurance place.  I would always see so many people going in and out of the building when I passed by.  I went into the employment office and filled out an application.  I had an interview, and then I had to take some tests.  After all of that was completed, the girl who was doing the hiring offered me a job.  Her name was Sandra Lockhart, and a few years down the road, she would be my boss; she told me that the position she was offering me had to be filled before the end of the year, and it would be at another location, 500 S. Ervay.  It was just a few blocks from where I was sitting.  It was a clerical job, and she wanted to know if I wanted it.  Of course, I wanted it; it didn't matter where or what it was.  There was one hiccup in the process.  I would have to go upstairs and take a physical.  That worried me a little because of my freshly pink scar on my tummy; it was something that I couldn't hide.  I said, okay.

I went upstairs and walked into mayhem.  There were so many people waiting for a physical; it was loud and kind of disorganized.  Most of the people in the room were guys.  They called my name, and I had to go into a room and take my outer clothes off.  What?  Yes, so I was sitting on the table with just a little drape thing over my boobs, barely covering me up.  In a few minutes, a young guy in his underwear burst through the door.  Oh great, how utterly embarrassing for both of us.  He had the wrong room.  And I was clearly showing more skin than he was.  I just wanted to evaporate. I hoped that the guy didn't get the job; with my luck, I would end up working in the same place with him and have to listen to boob jokes. Then this old codger doctor, who was about 114 years old, came in and asked the guy what he was doing—more embarrassment.  The underwear guy just stood there apologizing and looking at my boobs.  Then Dr. Eon was pushing on my stomach, which hurt.  He told the nurse that "that thing was already healed up''.  Good news.  He told me to go back downstairs that he was giving me the okay to be hired.  I don't know why I had to take my bra off; I guess it was to give grandpa his jollies.

I got dressed and went back downstairs.  Sandra told me I would start working on 12/27/73.  She told me to memorize that date because it would be essential.  This was Monday, December 24; I would start on Thursday.  This must be my Christmas present.  Everything would be different now.

I would make a big change in my life and the quality of my kid's lives.  It was going to work; I was going to make it work.  I wasn't going to look backward at all of the crap that I had been through.  And Mike!  Mike could stand on my shoulders and defecate thousand dollar bills, and it wouldn't make me want him back.  As far as I was concerned, I was more than done with his sorry self.  If I never saw him again, it would be too soon.

The new job was going to be my salvation.  I knew it in my heart even though I didn't know anything about working for the phone company.  New job, new life.  Let's go.



Dedicated to all of the ladies.

I Am Woman

-Artist: Helen Reddy from "Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits": EMI ST 11467
-Words and Music by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton


I am woman, hear me roar.
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman