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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...
6 comments:
Oh Gracie - I know just how you feel. I think we all have those moments in our lives where we look back on our behavior and cringe.
But that's how we know we've grown, matured and evolved. :-)
Kai...I certainly hope so! I know I'm still working on it...
Hi Gracie. When we were younger, I guess it seems easier to be pulled by peer pressure. I have done things that I'm not proud of because I was influenced by others.
Thank you for sharing this story.
I think you should name your cactus "Doris" to honor this person - prickly on the outside, not something you wanted at first, but something who's grown on you over time.
♥
mo
Hiya..nice to see you again! and I love Mo's idea! It's funny how we think of these things huh? It must be because we learned a lesson.
Peace
I'm sure we've all got things like that in our past that we're ashamed of now.
I think it's important to forgive ourselves for that behavior. It would be wonderful if we could all find the person we'd been rude to, but it's just not likely.
So forgive yourself, and then maybe do a little random act of kindness for someone now.
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