Posted by
Sue on Friday, January 05, 2007 6:59:41 PM
Forty years ago I worked in a corporation that ultimately was forced into extinction: a savings and loan. It was a great concept but because of its stringent lending rules, there was very little fraud possible and only those who could actually document affordability would be approved for a loan. There were many and varied "freedoms" for homeowners in those years. All that has changed completely and it is doubtful anyone even remembers that era. However, one thing that has never changed was the concept of the "queen bee" in the business world, we thought. Today, of course, I know we were uninformed and naive.
In the large, statewide, corporation that I worked there were many inequities. The one that could and did cause the most harm was the "queen bee" syndrome. The hierarchy throughout the company and its branches were fairly simple: the top boss, his secondary string and then the workers. I was one of the workers for nearly 10 years, before I moved up the rung that had begun to extend to women. But I never forgot the "queen bee" of each office, including the various large departments within the headquarters of the company. They were the gals that took for themselves the power to make the rest of our lives difficult. The powers that our bosses, men, never noticed. The "queen" made absolutely sure they didn't. Any job she didn't want to handle she passed on to us. The more ugly the job the more a lowly paid gal got it to do, and, to the "queen's" satisfaction.
Those were the days before "correction" tape or white out. Carbon paper ruled the day. You needed 10 copies of something? You typed an original with 10 papers intermixed with carbon paper. In my department, The Executive, you were never allowed to erase. You typed perfectly and if you made a mistake, you started over. We learned never to make a typo. And, because we used the old typewriters speed was something you strived for, but never truly achieved. Too big a chance of making a mistake. When the new Selectrics came on board, you could sing!! And boy, did I...over 100 words per minute. Ah, memories.Oh, and by the way, no spell check, no grammar hints. You typed up exactly what you had taken down in Greg shorthand. Anyone remember that? I still, to this day, write in shorthand when I don't want anyone reading what I've written.
But the Queen Bee had hidden powers. She could come in late, leave early, take long lunches and disappear into a nether world for more hours than she worked. She dressed to the nines. Always had her hair dressed. Wore very high heels and generally spent her time trying to look good, apply pressure to get us to do most of her work and coddling up to the bosses. She even got an expense account and generally got to do whatever she wanted. She was into power and damn the other girls! Sound familiar?
Nancy Pelosi is, in my opinion, a dead ringer for an old "Queen Bee" that retired a couple of years before I moved on to other things in my life. Her display of gushiness and wide mouthed fixed smiles for the cameras is a tickle to my unfond memories of the queen bees I've come across in my lifetime. They are not real women. They don't understand women, or men for that matter. They are into "who" they are and they revel in the power they have achieved by whatever means, period. But, they are not perfect. So pay attention. Her foibles, of which there are already a few, will become many more. When we believe ourselves to be perfect and right about all, we are just setting ourselves up for a fall...and a very long and hard splat at the end.
Welcome Nancy, to the real world. A world you helped to create. May you enjoy your brief moment in the spotlight and please, don't whine.
01/05/07