However, even though business is slow and I have watched as two part time employees have left to find other pastures in which to work and now a third, I show up for work and help people solve plant problems, help old women find plants for their hanging baskets, joke with people, try to joke with the few cranky ones that I meet, walk, walk, walk and generally, be so grateful to have a job that welcomes me. We have some fun and it is fast paced. However, change is constantly in the air, including the tenure of our location. Added to that is the fact that I am a summer employee though I work with good people who work hard and mostly shine brightly. The Good.
At lunch, I sit and eat and watch the sky. A simple half hour and I ponder my life and how I came from an Advanced Appraiser III to nursery worker. There is a story there and I try so hard to understand what has happened in the last two years. Sometimes I just rerun the past and yearn for relief from all the stress that my partner and I are living with these past few weeks. Today, at lunch, I called her and we talked about her difficult day. She deserves so much better and so much more.
Friends House, what was once a beloved community of Quakers and those like minded, is now a corporate-run retirement facility. The D.O.N. is the same nurse Diesel that was put in place by the pathetic board who has rolled over and peed on itself. Nurse Diesel has fired many, many loyal workers and no one seems to care anymore. She is still at it. Then there is the incompetent Executive Director who drives a Lexus big enough to house a family of eight and their dog with room to spare and the Resident Services person- Ms. Piggy herself. The Unholy Trinity.
Today, my partner was told that her job will be ending and yet they were vague as to when. The new management company is rumored to be rubbing their hands together hoping to buy Friends House at a time when it is down on its knees. Ah, Pacific Retirement Services of Oregon is about to get even richer. However, my partner has been dismissed without any appreciation for her years of service and dedication. Although an old story in America, the deep wound of the lack of respect, dishonesty, rudeness and downright callousness with which she was informed of her impending departure lies within each of us tonight. Her ridiculous Supervisor mentioned while telling my partner she would no longer be needed after 11 years of service, that imparting this dictate "was very hard for her." It really is not nor ever will be all about her but she seems to be so self involved that it is, in fact, always about her. Even my partner's layoff notice. The Bad and The Very Ugly.
Each day, we pack our lunches and go on towards the day and each day brings more questions for me about loyalty, kinship, love and honesty. Each day, I am left wondering what this all means and how will we make it up out of here? Is anyone listening? Thank you Prickett's for keeping the home fires burning. Thank you for believing in me. Bless you.
