Woman at Work

The following really isn't funny. If you must, scroll down to next post. I might even get a little sentimental here...

Ech. Before Mike left, Allan booked a trip to Vegas, months ago. He's leaving tomorrow. I can't gripe, you know? The guy signs my paychecks. I'll have Jim, the owner. Jim has a really bad memory. God bless him, but I am a bit concerned how it's gonna go.

My stomach already has that stressed-out-hurt. Driving home, my head was already swimming with the things I need to do tomorrow. More than likely, I'll be running both dry cleaning and laundry sides, at least at certain times of the day. We've already decided that I'll be doing all the wash n' fold orders since I know most of the people, their names, etc. And it's sometimes just easier for one person to be involved with the wash n' fold so it doesn't get confused or accidentally mixed up.

I'll have to help Jim, probably with a lot of things. Tuesday and Thursday are our days for delivery--as in delivery customers get their clean stuff and we pick up the dirty. Jim will have to cover that end while I'll attempt to hold down the fort.

Not I haven't held down the fort before. Ever since Mike left, my job description and duties have changed dramatically--as in: more. I need to find a T-Shirt that says, "WARNING: Contents Under Pressure". I didn't realize what a sweet deal I had going until Mike left.

Yes, I can write beautifully too! I'm not just a smart alec...
This morning I stepped outside for a break, though it was raining just hard enough to give me a possible case of pneumonia. So I unlocked the boiler room and stood inside for a minuet. It's like a virtual oven in there so as soon it slowed to a sprinkle I went around to the back of the building.

I'm glad it stopped raining when it did. Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly" came on my MP3 player at that moment and I stared at the sky. In my direct vision was a perfect rainbow, surrounded by fluffy clouds that looked like pillow stuffing stretched out. Like white and gray cotton candy had exploded into the blue sky.

A cool breeze fanned over me and I realized the sky was the most beautiful I had seen in a long time. The clouds stretched out and traveled north as though they had somewhere they needed to be. After stepping out and away from the concrete walls, steel machinery, and steam pipes, I felt a strange sort of peace wash over me and my tired back.

Peering at the sky, it were as if God Himself were smiling down at me, telling me to relax, to slow down for a minuet, just a minuet. To enjoy the perfect rainbow and all its colors before me. To ignore the traffic on the street, the noise of the belt on the air compressor, and the work set before me.

I wonder how anyone can look at a sky like that and truly not believe in a Higher Power. To think it was all an accident. Landscapes like that don't happen by chance. It's not by chance that I look at as though it were meant just me, and me alone. That I was the only one in the world to feel that cool breeze and gentle water drops on my forehead.

Done with my short break, I headed inside, once more prepared for the hours, the sweat, the frustration left in the day. As I entered once again into the concrete walls, the view of steel machinery and steam pipes; the noise of presses and gears and clothing dryers that are a little more loud that they ought to be, I realized that God followed me inside.

He kept a hand on my shoulder; His other hand, over my mouth. I was more calm than I usually am.
And that just doesn't happen by accident.