My Life as a Secretary

I was so intimidated that my hands were shaking as I took the typing test. The young woman sneered at the results. I failed. “You have to type 85 to 100 words a minute,” she said, as she showed me the door. I was grateful that she didn’t give me a shove and lock the door behind me. I took the elevator down to the gleaming glass and marble lobby.  Smartly dressed young women in tailored suits and spiked heels hurried by. I went home and cried.

My friend and I went to a job seeker’s group at a nearby church. Our leader tried to encourage us with such subjects as fighting off depression and what to do when your money runs out. We talked endlessly about resumes—how to stand out among hundreds of others—and what kind of paper to use.

I began to think I would never work again. Then, a want ad caught my eye. It was for a church secretary. I had done that before! I was good at it! And, my daughter’s co-worker was the pastor’s brother-in-law. I got the job and was back in my element. This small congregation was more forgiving of my occasional bulletin bloopers. By now, the Internet was popular, and I found a Web site dedicated to such errors. My favorite: “In honor of Palm Sunday, Mrs. Brown will lay an egg on the alter.”

I worked for a series of young ministers, including a woman dealing with issues women face in the clergy and a man whose previous job was playing Goofy at Disney World. We laughed all the time. I enjoyed seeing the preschool children’s smiling faces. The church’s food pantry appealed to my bleeding heart. I knew all the regular addicts, like wild-eyed Jerome and his wife Rita, who stopped by wanting drug money. One of them stole money from my purse, but I still had a soft spot for him, a lost, desperate soul. The poor people who dropped in with their hands out forced us to address the difficult aspects of Christianity. The ministers and I discussed at length how to respond to the Jeromes of the world.

All secretarial jobs involve office politics, and even at this small church, I had my share. After a few years, it was time to retire.

Secretarial work has changed over time. No one uses shorthand anymore, and computers have replaced some tasks we used to do.