Plant Life
by
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Later that day I entered the maintenance shop from the back door where I had gotten my lunch from the ice room. All the other first shift maintenance employees were crowding into Billy’s office. A few spilled over into the aisle just outside the office door. I wondered if Billy had called a meeting and they had not been able to find me so I walked over. When the men looked up and saw me all conversation halted abruptly. "What is this? A union meeting?" I quipped, knowing full well that ‘union’ was a dirty word here. No one laughed or even smiled at my joke. Instead a strange kind of embarrassed silence followed as the maintenance men slunk off in different directions. No one said a word. I went back to the table and sat down to eat. This was a quiet break in the day as everything was running smoothly. Billy came out of his office and went into the eviscerating room giving me a sideways glance as he passed. The Colonel came in the other door and sat down at the table. After glancing around to be sure we were alone he said, "Watch your back, they’re trying to get rid of you." "Is that what the meeting was about?" He gave me a hard look and I realized that two other maintenance workers were coming through the door. The conversation was on hold. They got some tools and left again. "What’s going on?" I asked. "Billy was bragging about how he was going to get rid of you. He said, ‘Maybe the other maintenance supervisors couldn’t get rid of her but I will!’ He’s really pissed that you have been able to do all the jobs he’s given you. So watch your step - don’t give him an excuse to fire you." "Thanks, Colonel," I said as he got up to leave. At least I had one friend left in this place. I realized that the ‘working alone’ order had only applied to me to make my work more difficult. I was not one to quit. I had made up my mind long ago that no one was going to scare me out of here. They would have to fire me. I did my work and did it well - including the paper work that the other employees failed to do. It now became a good way of covering my ass. I had the mistaken idea that as long as I did my job my position was safe. I should have taken into account the fact that a lot of people didn’t like me. The most resentment seemed to be from some of the women supervisors in the other departments. I understood why when I found out I was making more as a maintenance mechanic than they were as supervisors. And, of course, I was a damn Yankee woman in a "man’s job". I really didn’t want to be here any more than they wanted me here. I had put out applications to other places and was biding my time till a better job came along but, at present, there wasn’t anything else available. I had to work fairly close to home to keep my basenjis. I was not about to give up my line that I had been developing for over a quarter of a century. I had kept the dogs through two bad marriages and a lot of years of going it alone. So I would persevere until better days.
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About the Book
Everyone who has ever worked for a living can relate to PLANT LIFE. This work of fiction is about the perseverance of a middle-aged 'Yankee' woman trying to survive in the 'south' working in what is considered a man's occupation. Marie Martin’s training in mechanical and plant maintenance should have helped her find a job anywhere. When Three Mile Island reopened after a near meltdown, Marie decide it was time to move to a safer place with the line of dogs she was developing. Marie’s long range goal was to become a writer. An old friend, who now lived in Georgia, encouraged her to move there. Marie had planned to retire in a milder climate; she figured that as long as she was moving anyway, she should make the move south now. Her friend told her everything about the area that she thought Marie would like to hear. However, it was not an accurate representation of the situation. The wages would not be as good as in Pennsylvania and there would not be as many dog shows or lure coursing trials but Marie was willing to live with that for the chance to write. Her friend promised to co-author a book with her. Moving to GA was like stepping back fifty years in time and Marie experienced cultural shock. When her PA home did not sell right away she ran into financial difficulties that seemed only to mount. Inconceivable problems arose at her jobs. Marie’s dream of writing seemed to be getting pushed further and further away. Nevertheless it was an adventurous and exciting time for Marie. She maintained her hobby with the dogs while earning a living and fulfilling other obligations. Marie’s intestinal fortitude helped her through the hard times on her way to realizing her dream.
About the Author
Mary Lou Kenworthy spent most of her lifetime with horses and dogs. She has broken trained and raced Thoroughbreds, shown hunters, jumpers, and pleasure horses, competed in endurance rides and bred half-bred heavyweight hunters. With her pure bred dogs she has bred, trained, shown, hunted and competed in field trials (both sight & scent). The author worked in the manufacturing industry to support her hobbies. She spent her younger years collecting information to write about in her golden years. The author has written two short novels about horses, The Killer Pony and Tid-Bit. She also wrote UNDERSTANDING the Practical Application of GENETICS that was nominated for an award in 1998 by the Dog Writers Association Of America. Also to her credit, she authored A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual - BASENJIS, a book for Barron’s Educational Series as well as numerous articles for basenji periodicals around the world.