Girl Friday

Hi.  My name is Katherine.

I work for a small, independent newspaper in St. Louis.  Not the kind of independent newspaper that runs "Savage Love" and quirky hipster comics - no, our paper serves the suburban area, the split-level and SUV set.  Boy Scouts make the front page, and the police blotter is mercifully brief (usually).  We are square as square can be, but we are a big part of what makes the community special.

Although I'm low on the foodchain of the office (hence the name of this blog), I love my job.  There is a real family dynamic amongst the staff members, most of whom have worked for the paper for at least a decade.  I am just beginning my second year.

The Christmas party last month was held at the local train station, a beautiful century-old gray stone building on the Missouri Pacific line.  Although there was a snowstorm raging, I could only count a handful of employees who stayed home.  The place was packed, both with the office staff I see daily - as well as the freelancers, stringers, and carriers upon whom I had never laid eyes until that evening.  There was a wonderful dinner catered by a local restaurant, and an open bar of which I took full advantage.

We were each handed a raffle ticket at the beginning of the evening, and near the end, my boss (the publisher) began calling the numbers.  There were cash prizes as well as gift cards ranging from $25 to $200 to local businesses (advertisers, of course), and as the winners stepped forward, he announced their name and department: "This is Molly, she's in sales" and "Here's George, one of our interns."

Everyone at my table had their numbers called, so between that and my literal life-long losing streak, you can imagine my surprise when I turned out to have a winning ticket, too!  I squealed and scrambled to the front of the station, but stopped short when I heard my boss announce, "And here's our newest employee, Kathleen!"

Kathleen.

KathLEEN.

KATHLEEN.

I was raised to never correct my teachers, and as I've grown older and teachers have turned into bosses, I've certainly showed them the same regard.  But I had a Long Island iced tea, a Jack & Coke, and two vodka tonics flowing through my veins, providing me enough nerve to offer up a meek, "Um, actually it's Katherine."

Everyone chuckled, and when I sat back down ($50 richer), a freelancer beside me smiled and said, "So I guess you're new?"

Ah, the unrequited love between a girl and her job.