Monday, March 10, 2008

A Day of Celebration not Sadness

We all know where that sign is. It is a landmark recognized all over the world. It is one that I could see from my family house all of my life, on clear days.

That sign holds a special meaning to me. No, it has nothing to do with Hollywood, per se. It has to do with my father. My father's ashes were sprinkled just to the right of the Hollywood sign. He died a few days before his birthday which is today,
March 10. I believe he died on March 7th at around 10 in the morning.

My father was a marathon runner and he would train running up and down those hills at Griffith Park.

Last week, I went to court and after a year of struggling and fighting to maintain faith, the judge made a decision that changed my circumstances and stated that he is trying to clear up matters so I can resume my family life.

I wanted to top that with an offer with this organization. I have told you about them. I met with a woman today for the second time. Her birthday was on March 7th.
As soon as she told me, I thought of my father. I did not think of that day as a day of his death however. When she mentioned that it was her birthdate I associated it with something they had in common. They have in common compassion for people and the dedication to remove ignorance from our society. Every sector has ignorance. It just depends on what it is.

I made my presentation and in the back of my mind I was thinking of my father. I had come to the conclusion that perhaps I was not a fit for that position. I was right.

I did not misrepresent my credentials. They did not misrepresent their needs. What they need is not something that I can deliver. I was told that by the sharp woman that sat across the desk from me. I was not offended with anything she had to say.
She pointed out somethings, like "no paragraphs" in my brochure. I made a conscience decision to take away the paragraphs for spacing purposes. Ah, but I was not thinking. In traditional paragraphs, you indent 5 spaces. I do not do that. I skip a space between lines on my blog to signal a new train of thought.

It is the responsibility of one to know exactly what another wants. I did not do that. I chose to concentrate on text. It still would not matter as the thrust of the position was a bit different than what I have been used to in a position of the same title. Duties and Title are too different things.

The funny thing is I agreed with her the first time she mentioned it. I saw where she was going. She repeated it a couple of times but I think it upset her more than I. I was relieved. Funny isn't it.

I asked her about other positions and she said that she would brainstorm with the president to see what they could come up with.

"So you mean I am not out of consideration to joining the organization?", I asked.

"I would not consider you out at all," was her response.

A big smile must have come over my face because she commented on it. She said it was important to her to see that smile. I must say that was different but so is that organization and everyone in it is as well. I was correct in that I felt I belonged there. There was a time when I wanted to be at a corporation because of the prestige. I was young. Those things mean something.

I have to cut this short because I was told the computer lab is closing.

To make a long story short. I left there with a big smile on my face. This adventure downtown is indeed an interesting one.

I could not have celebrated my father's birthday any better than I did today.

Thank you MS. R.D.

Walter Melton aka Scribeskidrow.

1 comment:

dgarzila said...

Good For you Walter.

I had a bad time this weekend too. But the disability rights coordinator that hired me to take photos at the conference this weekend, sent me an e-mail telling me that my photos were great from Friday's meeting. She also said that there will be more opportunities to take photos.

Life is good when people are out there to help.