Job Hunting, the subject, for Seabrook writing group for December, 2010
In around 1948 I was apartment hunting for the first time in my life. It had been emotionally difficult to convince my parents that I was not being a “bad girl” to want to live on my own. I was a new technical assistant at Bell Telephone Laboratories at 463 West Street, NYC, right on the Hudson River. The Labs were about an hour and a quarter from where I lived with my parents in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. People suggested that I could more easily afford an apartment if I shared it with a friend. I took a chance and booked the flat, then searched for a room mate. Without too many inquiries about her past, or her likes and dislikes, I agreed to let Mildred share my apt. We both had found jobs at the Labs rather easily; that seemed to be typical for that era.
It turned out that Mildred was a “foodaholic”. She was already quite obese when we met, and over the months gained enormously. Fortunately we kept our possessions, including food, separate. It sure was an eye opener to watch, with a combination of horror and fascination, the quantities she consumed. An hour after dinner she’d open a quart package of ice cream and down the entirety. This was before the era of great concern over cholesterol and other nutritional interests. Mildred never talked about dieting, never apologized for her eating habits, in short, she was totally self accepting. I guess her obesity did not get in the way of her work life.
I kept that job for about two years, during which time I sort of “grew up”. I was the only girl in an office department of about 60 men. My mentors in that era were the wonderful men I worked with and mostly my superb boss. Mr. John Shiel had wide interests and loved to share his wisdom and life outlook with me. He’d stop by my desk in the morning, say, “and how are you today, Miss Finclaire?”. Before long we’d launch into some subject in depth. Time seemed irrelevant to Mr. Shiel. My job was called “technical assistant” but the usual contents of our chats were in the area of psychology, sociology, history, anthropology. It almost dwarfed my 4 year college degree in mathematics. We often talked for nearly an hour.
I don’t at all recall how, when or why Mildred moved out. I do remember that her successor, Trudy, was about 5 ft. tall and probably weighed 90 pounds.
Regardless of room mate, it was a time in my life of great growth. I stayed at the Labs about two years. Near the end of that period I was introduced to a charming fellow employee named Karl Goldschmidt, and the rest is history!