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| Excuse me, Sir . . . |
Census.
That process, every few years, when the Government gets to perform ‘roll call’.
So to speak.
In 1981, Mom applied for, and was awarded, the job of Census supervisor.
The job entailed working closely with a team of women who quickly became her friends.
The work was, for the most part, fairly mundane, as each of the women went door-to-door, collecting information on who lived there.
There were a few ‘hold-outs’.
And one or two downright nasties.
But the group managed to get the work done.
Noses counted.
And reports filled out.
It was time to celebrate.
Mom suggested that they all go out for a commemorative Chinese Food dinner.
Reservations were made.
The women gathered.
Eating and hilarity ensued. Mostly at my Mom’s expense as her co-workers proceeded to ‘roast’ their good-natured and long-suffering boss who had become such a good friend.
The end of the meal approached and fortune cookies were duly delivered to their table.
Each person seated there selected one.
Then they made a game of standing and reading their fortune aloud.
Finally, it was Mom’s turn.
She got to her feet.
There was a breathless pause. (Hey, it’s my story; I’ll tell it how I want . . .)
Mom grinned. “Oh, this is entirely appropriate,” she said. “It’s time to make new friends.”
Who says you can’t find truth in a fortune cookie?
Hah! And have you heard of the tradition (?) of reading the fortunes, followed by the words "in bed"? It makes the most innocent of statements hilarious!
ReplyDelete"Today is a good day to learn a new language" - in bed ... "Start a conversation with a stranger" - in bed ... you get the picture ...
Bwahahaha! Oh, I'll have to remember that one . . .
DeleteWe do the 'in bed' thing every time we read fortune cookies. They are downright hilarious!
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised?! :)
DeleteThe part I like most about census is the silly things people write on their forms and some of them get printed in the paper for us to laugh at. Names and addresses are never printed of course, the whole thing is anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThere's always a bright spot to every mundane job, right?
DeleteI love looking over the old census records at the things that were considered important back then. I actually worked on the 2000 census myself and made quite a few really great friends!
ReplyDeleteCensuses(?) censi? seem to be great opportunities for making friends. Just not always with the people you are counting . . .
DeleteI love how applicable (or hilariously inapplicable as the case may be!) a fortune cookie fortune can be!
ReplyDeleteTruth!
DeleteIf it s a good one I always hope it is true! A friend did the census here a couple of years ago and said it was tough with dogs in people's yards. She did not have the same good experience like your Mom and her coworkers/friends.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad about your friend. And about the dogs. She would have been okay in our yard. We have Aldo, the dog-who-thinks-he's-jello.
DeleteWhat a great story. It's always fun to find friends in unexpected places (hmm...like blogging)!
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. I've met the nicest people blogging! :)
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