Dubya and Dottie or, Another Debate Debacle
I listened to the debate again last night, and it took me back. When I was in college, I had a Graduate Assistant position (although I was not in Graduate School - long story) as a Night Manager at the Iowa Memorial Union - the student union at the University of Iowa.
My job was to oversee operations of the building during the evening hours. It was a big facility, with three ballrooms, 20 meeting rooms, five restaurants and bars, two movie theatres, and a 110 room hotel.
Such a building requires a large staff of custodians - and the most memorable was Dottie.
Dottie was the evening shop steward, a royal pain in the ass, and what might generously be considered "trailer trash". Until she was threatened with a write up, she insisted on wearing a black bra underneath her thin white uniform blouse (and judging from her smell, it was the same black bra, everyday). She was married, but had affairs with several of the other custodians (always the ones in supervisory positions, of course, and usually on work time) When these affairs soured, she would turn on them and manipulate the union and building management to have them fired. At this, she was ruthless, and since these men were not particularly bright, she was quite successful.
She also managed to get herself in a lot of accidents, so that she could have time off. There was the time she fell into the dumpster, the time she fell down the front stairs and - most memorably to me - the time she "splashed" toilet bowl cleaner in her eyes (during my shift. of course - I always had the drama) She came in the next morning, wearing dark glasses, and using her hands to shade the corners of the frames. While the other employees had files on them, which included any accidents, Dottie had a separate binder.
The reason why the debate reminded me of Dottie was this: Everytime Bush got in a corner, he sounded just like her - down to the bad grammar and shrill voice. Nothing was every Dottie's fault, just as nothing seemingly is ever Dubya's fault. Dottie, just like Dubya, couldn't make a mistake - it was always someone else's doing. Dottie thought her power as shop steward made her above questioning, and if you challenged her you were "union busting" just like Dubya thinks that anyone who questions him is not "an Amurican"
The good news is that Dottie finally got hers - we busted her for stealing a cash bag one night. It took a few of us staying late and spying on her, but just like every other crook, she made a dumb mistake, and we nabbed her.
Hopefully, enough Americans saw through that line of crap Bush fed us on Friday night, and will send him packing. If so, maybe he can go to Iowa, and join Dottie in the business she now operates.
She's a state certified daycare provider. Youth, after all, must be served.
My job was to oversee operations of the building during the evening hours. It was a big facility, with three ballrooms, 20 meeting rooms, five restaurants and bars, two movie theatres, and a 110 room hotel.
Such a building requires a large staff of custodians - and the most memorable was Dottie.
Dottie was the evening shop steward, a royal pain in the ass, and what might generously be considered "trailer trash". Until she was threatened with a write up, she insisted on wearing a black bra underneath her thin white uniform blouse (and judging from her smell, it was the same black bra, everyday). She was married, but had affairs with several of the other custodians (always the ones in supervisory positions, of course, and usually on work time) When these affairs soured, she would turn on them and manipulate the union and building management to have them fired. At this, she was ruthless, and since these men were not particularly bright, she was quite successful.
She also managed to get herself in a lot of accidents, so that she could have time off. There was the time she fell into the dumpster, the time she fell down the front stairs and - most memorably to me - the time she "splashed" toilet bowl cleaner in her eyes (during my shift. of course - I always had the drama) She came in the next morning, wearing dark glasses, and using her hands to shade the corners of the frames. While the other employees had files on them, which included any accidents, Dottie had a separate binder.
The reason why the debate reminded me of Dottie was this: Everytime Bush got in a corner, he sounded just like her - down to the bad grammar and shrill voice. Nothing was every Dottie's fault, just as nothing seemingly is ever Dubya's fault. Dottie, just like Dubya, couldn't make a mistake - it was always someone else's doing. Dottie thought her power as shop steward made her above questioning, and if you challenged her you were "union busting" just like Dubya thinks that anyone who questions him is not "an Amurican"
The good news is that Dottie finally got hers - we busted her for stealing a cash bag one night. It took a few of us staying late and spying on her, but just like every other crook, she made a dumb mistake, and we nabbed her.
Hopefully, enough Americans saw through that line of crap Bush fed us on Friday night, and will send him packing. If so, maybe he can go to Iowa, and join Dottie in the business she now operates.
She's a state certified daycare provider. Youth, after all, must be served.
posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay @ Saturday, October 09, 2004
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