Watching the Clock Learn 4:55

You should see Elizabeth right now, in blue sweater and black jeans, hair obscuring her sharp eyes as she preys over hundreds of black & white photocopied pages of equipment reports, columns, and, of course, "Recommended Components."

Yes, "Recommended Components."

She wields a powerful red pen and an awful permanent marker. She turns pages and makes slashes and check marks as she goes along. Her system, if one can call it "a system," is chaotic and unpredictable.

To be clear: I can't figure it out. I sort of simply keep out of her way; I nod when she asks me questions, reach out when she hands me work, do my best to accomplish my bits as quickly as possible.

The woman can be intense, that is for certain. She moves quickly — with short, heavy, no-nonsense steps — from the printer to our desk to her computer screen and back.

And back, again.

She doesn't look at me when she speaks. In her world, there is no time to look up. She asks me questions that come from nowhere, and I better figure her out fast. Answers — when there are answers — make themselves known.

She sniffles. "Alrighty."

COMMENTS
elizabeth's picture

Sorry for the whirlwind, Stephen! It's like I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in...and there I'm off again to another page.

Monty's picture

You should check in more often, Elizabeth. Stephen talks about you all the time. I really liked the story about the Christmas party, the Vodka and the lampshade.

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