Networking and Regular Girls

Right before social media brought some people together and definitely before it split others apart I was going through the list of high school classmates. What did I recall about them, would I want to see them again and the like.

Many were recalled as regular. That is not like plain or nondescript. Nice, friendly, on the ground women. I am regular, myself. Many want to act like I am inferior. Before mentioning that time I hit a wall of indifference when coaches talked out of school acting like I had the problem; find the ones who work for you.

Bringing me to Kim and Wendy. They were longtime friends. It's a good dynamic and they took a job in what would be the last new hiring class on that job.

This group was going to work from home. Long before it was all the rage. Kim couldn't drive and watched many children. She had custody of grandchildren. Considering her daughter did not know who the father was this was the best course of action.

I never drove Kim anywhere. Many of my friends could not or did not drive. She was in an accident in high school and it shook her to the point she did not want to get behind the wheel.

Having been in accidents myself- it causes paranoia that someone else on a cell phone will sideswipe you. I saw more of Kim than I saw of Wendy. They worked well together. Once both of them were around my desk and we had a nice conversation.

As soon as they returned to their work areas a colleague shot me a look. He talked to others and I never thought less of him. Was this Puritanical? The three of us did nothing behind closed doors.

Not true: I was invited to a local club that got around the No Smoking rule by opening a window on the ceiling. It was a good night at a local club with more second hand smoke than I ever want to deal with in the modern era.

At least no one who had too much to drink wildly flicked their ash. I was not bothered by smoking as much I was by the prospect of getting burned. Close calls led to dirty references. "If you really want to put your butt near me, that isn't what I had in mind."

Kim invited me over for Christmas. That was a G rated event and one of the better Christmases I ever had. Her father was there. He and one of her brothers have since gone on to ancestry. Her mother had already passed. Wendy told me I would have liked her.

I can only imagine. Kim is from Chicago and around the time Rex Grossman messed up Brian Urlacher's best opportunity to win a Super Bowl our department was closed. I did not see these ladies every day. The WFH crowd came in every other Friday.

Longstanding employees wondered why they were not offered the chance to work from home. We wondered if customers would hear a crying baby or a barking dog. I never asked to work from home and before long there was far too much time spent at home. Losing a job also meant losing the lifestyle.

It's not a like a divorcee who want to remain in Balenciaga even though she no longer lives with her rich husband. Losing a good job where I could do well and had camaraderie was a greater loss than a paycheck. The next job gave me a paycheck and little else. I kept up with nice women. It never led to relationships besides the one we had. That's pretty good.

They did the work. As did I. That is what regular people do. It's not like we had superpowers or something silly to brag about on social media. No, we lived our lives and it is time to meet more regular women. There is no shortage although it is surprisingly uncommon.