The Children Were Silent At Least

I was to interview my husband’s new secretary And was not excited or pleased But he claimed he did not have the time So I had her come to the house Shoved the children upstairs Where they put the four year old down the clothes chute Because she would fit and they would not The woman was young, I noticed I had worn panty hose She had not. That struck me odd. This was 1983, when everyone wore them for interviews If you were a female anyway I tried to look prim, proper, official Even though I was interviewing her in my living I was trying to look professional. The children were almost silent, and I thanked God for that. I asked her to tell me a bit about herself, Then I leaned back in my husband’s oversized office chair Which fell with a clunk on the ground My legs were sticking straight up above the desk. I crawled out and her face was all red. But not redder than mine I guess. I quickly said “You are hired”. A huge mistake as she barely typed seven words an hour. But in my haste to cover up, I grabbed at the only thing I had. Later we became fast friends and laughed all the time about it. On that day, however, I ended up with her cat, which I did not want. Because she cried and said her mom said she had to find a home for it She ended up with a job and the four-year-old went down the laundry chute.