Poor Doris...

(Photo - close up of an inherited cactus in my yard.
It serves to show howprickly I can be...)

Regrets - Poor Doris. She worked at the same Worker's Comp office I did eons ago in the late '60s. She must've been 50 but at the time, being the sage that I was, I thought she was at least 70! I can see her face even now. She wore her blondish hair in a bob with bright red lipstick and horn-rimmed glasses. She wasn't unattractive, just different. And to me, very old.

She lived within walking distance of the office and would go home for lunch. I took lunch after she did so I was hungry by the time she got back to work. Unfortunately, she drenched herself in Taboo and that didn't sit well on an empty stomach; especially after I became pregnant. Gag. I still can't stand that perfume.

She lived alone with a parakeet that she doted on (I can relate to that now - but then I thought she was a nut). She talked about teaching the little guy to perch on her cup and drink tea with her. Did I laugh at that? You betcha. I laughed to myself, imagining her with her budgie having tea parties.

There were about 8-10 of us and we all smoked and had ashtrays on our desks. Our cigarette packages were usually out on our desks. Often I'd find a dime with a note saying that Doris had taken a couple of cigs from my pack. Okay...that was a pain. She did it with all of us but none of would say anything except my immediate boss. She had a fit when Poor Doris decided to take a couple of smokes from her. Doris loved tea and would reuse a tea bag a couple of times. It used to drive all of us nuts to see her rung-out teabags in the kitchen. Why? I don't know now...

The honest to goodness truth is she was the office goat. Every office has at least one person who may appear to be a tad eccentric to everyone else, and because she was it, she became the butt of our jokes. Looking back at it, I hate the way I behaved. I was barely out of my teens but that's no excuse.

I can still see her face and I wish I could tell her how badly I feel...