It took mom three months - three glorious months of enjoying the sunshine, spending time at the library, traveling, watching two movies a week and feeling sorry for all the people who had to work while she shopped - to find gainful employment again.
Gone are the days of lazing around the house, scratching her pajama-clad bottom and allowing her brain cells to gather dust. Mom is now awake, but barely alive at 6 a.m., and joins thousands of other groggy commuters as they wind their way toward smoggy downtown.
Traffic reports, which she once thought were a serious waste of airtime, are now music to mom’s ears. After reaching work 45 minutes late the first day thanks to an accident five miles away, she now relies on the radio the entire 29.5 miles to work and back.
In a futile effort to find a shortcut, mom has discovered neighborhoods she never knew existed, and has passed through side streets where the homeless congregate or working women flaunt their profession.
Her workplace is in a tony part of town, but the way there, like the road to El Dorado, is fraught with frustration and grave danger.
The first day, as mom sat in a long line of cars that didn’t move for 30 minutes, she contemplated jumping off the freeway ramp and walking the remaining 15.4 miles to work in her pointy black heels. Suddenly, the person next to her rear-ended the Honda in front of him and missed hitting mom’s car by a hairbreadth as he swerved into her lane.
Such are the perils our fair heroine faces on a daily basis.
In a span of five days, mom has seen numerous collisions, been honked at, cursed at in Spanish, been shown the finger, gone the wrong way on a one-way street in an unknown part of town and seen more hookers on downtown side streets than all the times Munnabhai encountered Gandhi.
And for the desperately curious - not a single one of those hookers looked anything like a Pretty Woman.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
For a Few Dollars More
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
"mom is gainfully employed again" - dont u think the first 'g' has to be replaced by 'p'?
Back to work, huh? Hope that Mom's new job is as close to her dream job as Vivian and Edward ever became at the end of Pretty Woman.
So how much you like this job? And what happened to your literary dreams? You even thought of writing smut. :-)
Anyway as long as you blog, it's good. I am having a tough time coming off my block.
What's mom's new job Terri?Do tell!
i7, you hit the nail on the head. Mom was made for a life of pampering and luxury; not labor.
anantha, mg, the new job is not going to get her closer to her dream job, but it might pay for new flooring in the bedrooms.
jc, I'm not qualified to write smut. All my experiences are only in my head.
Good luck Terri's mom!
Hi terri,
First congratulations to mom for getting employed, not that it is any great fun. I'm sad that she too is trapped in the maya of the world. Well that's life. Who needs new flooring - she doesn't sleep on the floor does she? What about her dreams? Achieving one's dream is also hard work, not easily done. She has to keep on pegging at it. Ask her to chuck her job, or take one which is line with her dreams. It's not worth it. Hey terri? have I been barking too much for my own good? Sometimes I do become a little overbearing, sorry.
Just my thoughts. All bark, no bite meant :)
not a single one of those hookers looked anything like a Pretty Woman
Mom being a writer ought to know about poetic licence or cinematic licence, in this case. ;)
oh Terri - congratulations to mom on her new job! Does she growl at you in the mornings thinking of the traffic? Hope she buys you tasty bones now that she will be loaded again!
sujatha, thank you.
visitor, the flooring's for me. I have a bed, but I prefer something more organic.
noon, I can tell how bad the traffic was when she walks in the door.
Hi mom,
Talking about affording stuff - I just now saw a program on CNBC-TV18 - The Suze Orman show - which has a "Can I afford it" section and was reminded of you wanting a new flooring. :)
Actually I found the program quite entertaining as well as sensible. I guess it is aired on Saturday evenings in the US. Do see it if you can.
PS: This comment has nothing to do with you taking up a job or wanting a new flooring. :)
the visitor:
this the first time you are watching suze orman, eh? she is something, though i always forget to watch her on saturdays!
btw, for money matters in the usa, check out matthew's blog.
- s.b.
terri's mom:
good for u on landing the new job, and empathize with you on the commute.
btw, beauty is certainly in the eyes of the beholder - me is not among those that consider "pretty woman" pretty! of course, i cannot comment on sights unseen.
- s.b.
@s.b. -
Thanks for the link to Mathew's blog.
wow, u back to work, and here I thought I had company *grumble grumble*
Post a Comment