Old Secretary: Hang On to Your Sense of Humor

In the dark ages, when sexual harassment and political correctness were unknown concepts, I worked for a partner who could only be described as insane. However, he was probably one of the funniest people I had ever met, which made up for a lot of his transgressions. One day he came running out to my desk, in a panic. “Deb, I did something really stupid and the client’s in my office and he’s on the verge of discovering it, so in a couple of minutes, even though I know it wasn’t your fault, I’m going to call you into my office and scream at you!” I laughed and said, “Go ahead. The client’s not dumb enough to think it was me and he’ll know it was you anyway.” We laughed together, and then went through with our little charade, both knowing that I was right! I kept his finances straight, dealt with irate ex-girlfriends, kept the current girlfriends separated and, in general, ran his life. In spite of (or perhaps because of) his insanity, he was extremely generous. He made my IRA contribution out of his own pocket for several years, gave me my first Coach bag and showed up with a beautiful little sapphire and diamond ring one Secretary’s Day. I remember him with great fondness.