There's Got To Be More In Life......

She'd decided, two months

After giving up her '87 Olds

Too costly to fix

One month after her boss

Told her she'd soon

Be released from her job

Which she'd had for

Many years with kind folks

Who'd gotten to be like her family

She'd felt comfortable

In her home away from home

Were she a cat

She'd have purred

But job loss wasn't the worstt

Her final report said she

Didn't play well with others

Too emotional--poor judgment--didn't

Complete tasks quickly enough

Or too many mistakes

Didn't display creativity--

but her job hadn't offered her

the chance to be creative--

she also got a bad mark for

not doing what the boss wanted

because she had a better idea

And the agents liked that better

Poor concentration, poor memory

And she lacked a pleasant

Optimistic attitude. He also

Said others she worked with

Were reluctant to ask her for help

Those very others she'd thought

Had liked her as though they

were family. She realized now,

a dysfunctional family.

At the end of the report the

Boss added something to the

Effect she just didn't fit in

There--or any other office

With "normal" people. Reading

Again the report late one night

She was so distraught she

Thought she'd cross the highway

Between her bus stop and the

Office without checking the

Traffic. But then she decided

She wanted to live. Life still

Had too much to offer. She found

That she enjoyed being on her own

Schedule, rising when it was light

Out, not answering to others,

doing what she loved. Or "her own

thing" as they'd say when she was in

The sixth grade. She thought

There's got to be more to life....

Than paper clips and sticky notes,

Rubber bands and paper reams,

Copiers, postage meters and fax

Machines, and the general daily

Grind. She didn't miss getting up

And going to work before dawn,

And coming home when it was

Almost dark in the winter--

A stressful, fatiguing routine.

And then she decided that there

Was wisdom in the boss's words.

He'd brought up signs that she'd

Been having problems. And she agreed

For for years she'd known something

Was amiss with her--with her extreme

Mood changes and emotional displays

That had been untreated for all those

Many years--she'd thought she could

Handle them on her own. For having

been labelled "Learning Disabled" in

Her youth, she'd wanted to be "normal."

But going it alone didn't help--

For as she'd found it was

Full of dangers and pitfalls.

She decided it was time to start

Healing. She worried about how

Much this would cost, but found

A doctor who didn't charge much

So now she'd getting the help and

Meds she needs. Life still isn't

Perfect--she still isn't up to

A job--but now she hope she's

Finally on the right road.