| Biographical Non-Fiction posted May 2, 2020 | Chapters: |
...29 30 -31- 32... 
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I was expected to learn new skills
A chapter in the book Remembering Yesterday
Learning More New Skills
by BethShelby
| Background In my new job with the printing company, I am being trained in things that weren't part of the original requirement. I have a maid taking care of our children. |
We had bought a new bedroom suite and returned the borrowed crib. Now, I had a room that Carol and Christi could share. Our house had only two bedrooms, but the paneled den had a large closet and could be used as a bedroom. The den looked more masculine, so I put the remaining crib in there for Don. He wasn’t happy about it. He had bonded with Carol and wanted to be with her. He couldn’t say “Carol” so he called her “Coow”.
Christi had claimed the role of the baby of the family. She would have preferred to sleep with us, but we needed more privacy now that they were getting a little older. Don wasn’t fun to hold because he couldn’t be still long enough, so he missed his chance to ever be the baby. All the children seemed to be doing fine with Mamie caring for them. She was quiet and didn’t complain. I had a hard time getting to know her, but as long as the kids seemed okay with both of us working, I didn’t push.
My next door neighbor, did complain about Mamie though. She told me that Mamie’s husband was coming by at lunchtime and taking Mamie and the children to the nearby 7-Eleven quick-stop. She didn’t think it was appropriate for my children to be seen with a black couple. I didn’t have a problem with that, but I didn’t like the idea that they were away from home without me knowing it. I did tell Mamie she should have told me she was taking the children away from home. She apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again.
Although the work at my new job seemed easy enough, every day something new was added to the things I was originally hired to do. Robert started teaching me to place the negatives on the masking paper for the small offset presses. He started me out with just one negative per job, which were often for one color business cards or letterheads. This had to be measured carefully to make sure the negative was correctly positioned. The process was called stripping. Some jobs that came through the shop were repeats. For those, I had to search the filing cabinet to find the already prepared negatives needed to print the job.
When the stripping was completed the job was taken to a flip top table and positioned on a thin sheet of aluminum called a plate. A suction was turned on which flattened the work against the glass. The table was then tilted facing a very bright arc light that burned the print from the negative into the metal. This was called plate making, and I was taught how to do that. Jobs that were to be printed in full color involved four plates. one for each color. The printing inks for full color were magenta, cyan, yellow and black.
When it came to the graphic arts camera and the darkroom work, I knew something about that from the earlier job I had when I worked for the glass company. Robert was delighted when he found out I knew something about doing camera work already. Only men had worked in this department before, but there was no reason it couldn’t be done just as easily by a woman. The problem was Robert insisted on being in the darkroom with me which made me nervous. He stood way too close, occasionally touching his shoulder against mine. Robert was just a few years older than me and considered himself a ladies’ man. I couldn’t let him ruin this for me. The dark room was constructed with a series of turns so that anyone could walk in without knocking and it wouldn't expose the film. He was bad about walking in on me when I had both hands in the chemicals and couldn't defend myself against his advances.
Not long after I started working in this department, one of the company owners came around, and I was introduced to him. He was an elderly man, but he immediately put his arm around me and reached down and stroked my bottom. I was shocked and reacted quickly by jerking back and saying, “Please don’t do that!” He became indignant and acted as if I had cursed him. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “I’m a old man. I can’t do anything to you.” I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Was this the price women were required to pay in order to bring home a paycheck?
With so many new things being added, I had no time for breaks. You and I were riding together to save gas. I was exhausted by the time I got home in the evening. You were still doing night school, so three nights a week you had to go to class. I was almost too tired to give the children their baths and tuck them in. Often, when you came in from school, you found all of us asleep in front of the TV.
On weekends, the plant supervisor felt he had the right to call employees in if they were needed. I refused to answer the phone at times when I knew there was a possibility I might be called in. I was spending enough time away from you and our children. If we'd not planned on going to visit our parents, we would often take the children to the park or the zoo. Sometimes we would ride out into the country and walk over the acreage we'd bought. The longer trips were boring for the childen, and many times, they would all be asleep within the first fifteen minutes. If they didn't sleep, Don would pick at his sisters until he had irritated them to the point they were fighting or crying. I got an idea from The Sound of Music movie that maybe there would be less fighting if I could get everyone singing. It actually worked. The twins were young, but they joined in the best they could, and all of them ended up with good voices. I have you to thank for that. Singing could have been your career field. No one ever claimed I had musical talent.
I gathered that people at work seemed uneasy about their jobs. One day Robert went around and told certain people there would be a meeting after work and asked them to stay. I was not one of the people invited to the meeting, so I went home as usual.
That night I had a very realistic dream. It seemed I was watching a lot of the people I’d gotten to know around the shop. They were seated in a group and many of them were crying especially, Donna the receptionist. Since it was such a vivid and troubling dream, I couldn’t resist mentioning it to Donna the next day. Donna had been with the company for years and was more than a receptionist. She hadn’t gone out of her way to be friendly to me. She seemed to resent the fact that I’d been moved to another department. When I told her what I’d dreamed, she acted as though I was making it up, and I’d been told something I shouldn’t know. Her sarcastic response was, “You may be crying too, pretty soon, Missy.”
Shortly after this, Robert called another meeting. This time, it was for the employees that weren’t at the first meeting. I wasn’t asked to attend this one either. The next morning the plant seemed empty. All of the people who were at the second meeting were gone.
I tried to find out what was going on. My little Cajun work mate, Dave, didn’t act as if he knew anything either, but at least, he was still there. I asked Robert what his plans were for me, and he told me, “When it’s time for you to know something, then I’ll tell you.” I felt very insecure about my job situation. Did this mean I might be unemployed again soon? Time would tell.
Christi had claimed the role of the baby of the family. She would have preferred to sleep with us, but we needed more privacy now that they were getting a little older. Don wasn’t fun to hold because he couldn’t be still long enough, so he missed his chance to ever be the baby. All the children seemed to be doing fine with Mamie caring for them. She was quiet and didn’t complain. I had a hard time getting to know her, but as long as the kids seemed okay with both of us working, I didn’t push.
My next door neighbor, did complain about Mamie though. She told me that Mamie’s husband was coming by at lunchtime and taking Mamie and the children to the nearby 7-Eleven quick-stop. She didn’t think it was appropriate for my children to be seen with a black couple. I didn’t have a problem with that, but I didn’t like the idea that they were away from home without me knowing it. I did tell Mamie she should have told me she was taking the children away from home. She apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again.
Although the work at my new job seemed easy enough, every day something new was added to the things I was originally hired to do. Robert started teaching me to place the negatives on the masking paper for the small offset presses. He started me out with just one negative per job, which were often for one color business cards or letterheads. This had to be measured carefully to make sure the negative was correctly positioned. The process was called stripping. Some jobs that came through the shop were repeats. For those, I had to search the filing cabinet to find the already prepared negatives needed to print the job.
When the stripping was completed the job was taken to a flip top table and positioned on a thin sheet of aluminum called a plate. A suction was turned on which flattened the work against the glass. The table was then tilted facing a very bright arc light that burned the print from the negative into the metal. This was called plate making, and I was taught how to do that. Jobs that were to be printed in full color involved four plates. one for each color. The printing inks for full color were magenta, cyan, yellow and black.
When it came to the graphic arts camera and the darkroom work, I knew something about that from the earlier job I had when I worked for the glass company. Robert was delighted when he found out I knew something about doing camera work already. Only men had worked in this department before, but there was no reason it couldn’t be done just as easily by a woman. The problem was Robert insisted on being in the darkroom with me which made me nervous. He stood way too close, occasionally touching his shoulder against mine. Robert was just a few years older than me and considered himself a ladies’ man. I couldn’t let him ruin this for me. The dark room was constructed with a series of turns so that anyone could walk in without knocking and it wouldn't expose the film. He was bad about walking in on me when I had both hands in the chemicals and couldn't defend myself against his advances.
Not long after I started working in this department, one of the company owners came around, and I was introduced to him. He was an elderly man, but he immediately put his arm around me and reached down and stroked my bottom. I was shocked and reacted quickly by jerking back and saying, “Please don’t do that!” He became indignant and acted as if I had cursed him. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “I’m a old man. I can’t do anything to you.” I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Was this the price women were required to pay in order to bring home a paycheck?
With so many new things being added, I had no time for breaks. You and I were riding together to save gas. I was exhausted by the time I got home in the evening. You were still doing night school, so three nights a week you had to go to class. I was almost too tired to give the children their baths and tuck them in. Often, when you came in from school, you found all of us asleep in front of the TV.
On weekends, the plant supervisor felt he had the right to call employees in if they were needed. I refused to answer the phone at times when I knew there was a possibility I might be called in. I was spending enough time away from you and our children. If we'd not planned on going to visit our parents, we would often take the children to the park or the zoo. Sometimes we would ride out into the country and walk over the acreage we'd bought. The longer trips were boring for the childen, and many times, they would all be asleep within the first fifteen minutes. If they didn't sleep, Don would pick at his sisters until he had irritated them to the point they were fighting or crying. I got an idea from The Sound of Music movie that maybe there would be less fighting if I could get everyone singing. It actually worked. The twins were young, but they joined in the best they could, and all of them ended up with good voices. I have you to thank for that. Singing could have been your career field. No one ever claimed I had musical talent.
I gathered that people at work seemed uneasy about their jobs. One day Robert went around and told certain people there would be a meeting after work and asked them to stay. I was not one of the people invited to the meeting, so I went home as usual.
That night I had a very realistic dream. It seemed I was watching a lot of the people I’d gotten to know around the shop. They were seated in a group and many of them were crying especially, Donna the receptionist. Since it was such a vivid and troubling dream, I couldn’t resist mentioning it to Donna the next day. Donna had been with the company for years and was more than a receptionist. She hadn’t gone out of her way to be friendly to me. She seemed to resent the fact that I’d been moved to another department. When I told her what I’d dreamed, she acted as though I was making it up, and I’d been told something I shouldn’t know. Her sarcastic response was, “You may be crying too, pretty soon, Missy.”
Shortly after this, Robert called another meeting. This time, it was for the employees that weren’t at the first meeting. I wasn’t asked to attend this one either. The next morning the plant seemed empty. All of the people who were at the second meeting were gone.
I tried to find out what was going on. My little Cajun work mate, Dave, didn’t act as if he knew anything either, but at least, he was still there. I asked Robert what his plans were for me, and he told me, “When it’s time for you to know something, then I’ll tell you.” I felt very insecure about my job situation. Did this mean I might be unemployed again soon? Time would tell.
 Recognized |
I'm continuing to recall memories of life with my deceased husband as if I am talking aloud to him. I'm doing this because I want my children to know us as we knew each other and not just as their parents;
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