CHAPTER 13
Monica and Rose were sitting at the table in their apartment eating supper on Wednesday, when their discussion about fashion was interrupted by the telephone ringing.
"I'll get the phone," said Rose. "Hello. Yes, she is here. Monica, it is for you." Monica sipped her milk before pushing herself from the table, to the receiver. "Hello," said Monica. "Oh, Mr. Martin, how are you doing?"
"I am fine Monica, but most important, I would like to know how you feel about working for Quagmeyer Corporation?"
"When do I start?" Monica's eyes opened wide and she grinned at Rose.
"We will want to see you on Monday morning at eight o'clock. I will see you then."
"Thanks, Mr. Martin."
"You are welcome, Monica. Good-bye."
"Bye."
"Sounds like we are going to have a programmer living here," said Rose.
"Well, they are going to give me a chance at the position and that is all I wanted."
"Mr. Martin must believe you are capable of doing the work, Monica."
"I know I can do the job even though there will be problems, but I will meet the obstacles, whatever they turn out to be."
"This calls for a celebration, Monica. Let us get out some wine."
"Just pour me a small amount, Rose."
"Whatever you say, Monica, I will drink your share for the celebration of you getting the computer programming position."
"I can't wait to tell Bob I really did get a job on my own."
"He will be very happy to hear about your good luck, I am sure," said Rose. "Do you think he will be proud of me, Rose?"
"I am sure he will be glad to know you have an opportunity to show someone exactly what you can do with what you have learned."
"Maybe things will be different between us in the future, particularly now that I have a chance to be self-supporting," said Monica. She sipped from the glass containing the wine.
"This is good stuff," said Rose as she tasted the blueberry wine. "The only thing you have to watch whenever you start to drink is that you don't consume too much so that whenever you try to get up, you find that your legs have forgotten to walk."
Monica looked down at her own legs.
"I didn't mean to upset, Monica," said Rose as she noticed Monica's downward stare.
"You didn't upset me, Rose, I was just thinking about those words you spoke. I don't have to worry about getting out of this chair if I have too much too drink."
"I suppose that I really don't think of you as not being able to walk, Monica, or that I just forget about what happened to you last year."
"That's alright, Rose, sometimes I don't want to realize my predicament, or maybe, to accept the facts."
"Who knows, Monica, maybe medical science will come up with ways in the future to make things happen for people in various circumstances."
"Yes, who knows exactly what lies ahead," said Monica.
"Do you want to watch some TV before you hit the sack for the evening, Monica?"
"Yes, why don't we do just that."
Monica had set her alarm clock for six on Monday morning and she opened her eyes just as the radio turned itself on. She reached her right hand out of bed to the button, which she pressed to stop the noise. Then she reached for her wheelchair and pulled herself onto the seat.
Rose awoke and said, "Is it Monday morning already?"
"Yes, I am afraid so," laughed Monica. "But it doesn't make any difference because this is the day that I start my career as a computer programmer."
"We, if I must get up, I must," said Rose, struggling from the bed onto the floor. "What time do you have to be there this morning, Monica?"
"Eight o'clock."
"What time is it now?"
"It is now five minutes after six."
"You know what I like about Monday mornings, Monica?"
"Not exactly."
"See, Monica, you can't think of it either."
"I am going to beat you to the bathroom this morning, Rose."
"You beat me to the bathroom every morning, Monica, so I don't think I will let you lose today."
When Monica disappeared into the bathroom, Rose slid down onto the plush blue carpeting and started doing her sit-ups. When she completed forty, she stood up and gave a sigh.
"That type of exercise gets tougher and tougher every time I try to count higher that thirty," she said to herself. "I may as well make breakfast before Monica beats me to the job."
Rose walked into the kitchen and opened the vinyl covered cabinet door. "Let us see, we have crispies, flakes, and shredded wheat, and since I don't like flakes, I guess we will eat something crispy. Where the heck did I put the bowls last night after I dried them?" She searched the cabinet on left side of the sink, but didn't see them. "Ah, there they are right on the drain board where I placed them to dry."
Rose turned the hot water on in the sink and placed two of the bowls under the faucet to rinse them, and then set them on the glass tabletop.
"All we need now is the sugar. I wonder if I put that where I can easily find it. Yep, there she is right on the table. I hope my slow start today isn't a sign of how things will go today."
Monica came out of the bathroom.
"Looks as though you have a breakfast ready for us, Rose."
"It wasn't any trouble, Monica, except the supplies were not exactly in their respective storage areas."
Monica pulled herself to the table and flipped the box top open to pour the cereal into the purple bowl. "Did you get the milk out, Rose?"
"Would you believe that I forgot about having anything to pour on the cereal to make it edible?"
"Well, it is easy enough to forget, Rose."
Rose opened the door to the refrigerator and said, "Do you want the skim or whole milk for your goodies, Monica?"
"I'll have skim milk, thank you."
Rose removed the paper container and closed the green door. "Here you go, Monica. Put this into your cereal and then let it pop and crackle away."
Monica laughed.
"You are sure in a good mood for early in the morning, Rose, and it is only Monday."
"I just want to be jovial early so that I can take my punches later on today without crying. I think I will use the bathroom before sitting down to eat, Monica. Maybe if I pour some water on my face, I will feel chipper."
Rose walked into the gold room and closed the door behind her. She quickly opened it and shouted to Monica, "If I fall in, please call a tow truck that uses soft cable for pulling people out of difficult places."
"You certainly are funny, Rose. Okay, if I have to call for a tow I will make sure they use a cotton line."
"Thanks," said Rose shutting the bathroom door once more. Monica chuckled to herself as she poured the milk over the cereal. She waited several minutes to allow the milk to penetrate the cereal before scooping some on her spoon.
She heard the spraying of water and in about two minutes, Rose called. "Monica, can you please bring me in a towel?"
Monica went to the linen closet outside the bathroom door and pulled a large yellow towel from inside.
"Here you are, Rose, one yellow garment for drying your body," said Monica after opening the bathroom door a little further. "Thanks, I knew I forgot something whenever I felt the water pounding on my poor body. Wouldn't you know it would be the towel?"
"I'll pour some milk on your cereal for you, Rose, just in case you don't have the time after you get through in here."
"I would really appreciate you doing that for me, Monica, seeing as how I am having a genuine problem with trying to keep myself in line this morning."
"See you when you come out," said Monica, backing away from the entrance.
Ten minutes lapsed before Rose appeared with the towel wrapped around her body.
"Now all I have to do is to remember to clothe myself before we leave here," she said, walking to the bedroom. "I don't believe anyone would notice," laughed Monica.
"You are probably right, Monica."
"I was just kidding, Rose, you are attractive and I don't believe any woman would ever go without being noticed if she wore no clothing."
Rose came out of the bedroom dressed in blue slacks and blue top. "You look pretty sharp to me."
"Thanks, Monica, I hope I don't wind up spilling any of my cereal on my clothing."
"While you are attempting to down your food, Rose, I am going to get dressed."
"I don't see any white spots on your blouse, Rose, so I guess you made it through breakfast without having any sort of accident."
"Yes, I played my cards right this time. Are you ready to get started on your way to the first day of a new job?"
"I am ready if you are, Rose."
"Let me clean off the table and then we will be on our way," answered Rose as she picked up the bowls and washed them in the sink. "Do you want to go and ring for the elevator while I finish up here, Monica?"
"Certainly."
"You do that and I will be right out, Monica."
Rose pulled her car out of the parking garage and headed for downtown Pittsburgh. "I can't wait to get started on this job, Rose, because of the challenge it offers."
It should turn out to be exciting, Monica, because of all the things going on with computers today." Rose drove up to the building, where Monica departed without any help from Rose.
"Good luck, Monica."
"Thanks, Rose."
"What time do you quit, Monica?"
"Four-thirty."
"Okay, I will see you a little after that depending on how soon I can get back down this way from where I park my car and of course, how fast traffic is moving."
"See you." Monica turned and pushed herself towards the shiny building raising her head to search out the height. She entered through the doors and took her place on the elevator with several other passengers. When she reached her floor and departed, she was greeted by the Quagmeyer receptionist.
"Hi, Monica, glad to have you with us. Mr. Martin isn't in yet, but Miss Orin is and would like you to complete some forms for good old taxes and for insurance, etcetera, etcetera. Do you remember how to get to her office?"
"I believe so."
"Good, then you can go on back. I'll be talking with you later."
Monica wheeled herself down the hall to the office occupied by Miss Orin and after completing the necessary forms, Miss Orin ushered her into Mr. Martin's office.
At eight ten, Mr. Martin signed in.
"Good morning, Monica, I am glad to see you here. Are you all set for your new job?"
"As set as I will ever be, I guess."
"I want to discuss a few things with you before I take you to the area where you will be working, Monica. One thing, I want you to be sure of is that if you have any problems here, don't hesitate to call me or Miss Orin at any time. No matter how big or small the difficulty, don't worry about bothering us, because we are here to take care of our employees. The position which you now hold, Monica, that of computer programmer trainee, is one where you will be trained by one of our best men. One problem you will immediately encounter with this fellow is that he doesn't like girl programmers. As a matter of fact, he doesn't like to see women working, period."
"Do you think he will resent me and really show that he doesn't like me?"
"It isn't that he likes or dislikes women, he believes women have a place in the home. He will tell you himself about his beliefs, but he doesn't know you are confined to a wheelchair. This may hold his opinion back a little, but I doubt it very much. Jim is an excellent computer technician, and whether he likes to see women work or not, it doesn't hold him back from training people; a skill which isn't shared by many persons in data processing. He will teach you everything he can about programming and systems design, and I believe you will be one of our best students. Any questions before I take you down to the data processing department?"
"No, I don't think I have any questions but I am not sure how well I will like this guy Jim."
"He is truly a nice guy, Monica, it is only his opinion on women that may be hard to take by some of his co-workers. Jim has trained women before and never let the company down."
"You ready to go and meet him, Monica?"
"Yes, let's go."
"Follow me and we will go to the elevator and down to the next floor.”
They proceeded to the elevator and when they got off on the lower floor, Mr. Martin said, “Take the hallway to the right, Monica. Jim's office is the first one on the right."
Jim was coming out of the doorway as they approached. "Good morning, Harry," said Jim.
"How are you doing this morning, Jim?" asked Harry. "I guess I will survive another day."
"Here is our new programmer trainee, Jim. Her name is Monica Rawlings."
"I am very happy to meet you, Monica," Jim spoke, holding out his right hand. "Hello, Jim," said Monica with a sober face.
"I am not as bad as some people make me out to be, Monica," he said, smiling. Monica shook hands with Jim and smiled.
"See, Monica, he isn't as big a grouch today as I said he would be," commented Harry. "Now that you are in good hands, Monica, I will leave you and begin some other work. See you later, Jim. You too, Monica."
"Alright, Monica," said Jim, "I am going to show you where your office is located. It so happens it is right next to mine so that I can keep an eye on you. Come on over, and I will show you what I would like you to do today, which will be pretty much reading about the things we have going on here."
Monica wheeled into her office first and stopped in front of the desk.
"Why don't you get behind the desk and I will sit in the guest chair and tell you what I would like you to accomplish this morning, and then we will hit the afternoon agenda."
She moved to the rear of the desk and pulled herself in place.
"Okay, Monica," he said, "the red manual on your desk describes the method we have of storing programs and systems documentation, the process we go through for making changes to programs and/or systems. Included are the locations of the materials used in data processing. The three blue manuals are the systems currently in use in Quagmeyer Corporation. Although you will not be able to absorb all the data contained in the manuals, they will give you some insight into the functions that you will perform as a programmer with the company. There is plenty of opportunity here and one thing I can say for Harry Martin is that he doesn't go for brown-nosers. With him, performance counts and is rewarded with money and promotion when possible. I want you to try and grasp the facts continued in the red book and we can worry about the others as we go along. I'll be in my office if you need anything today. We have found that most people will take several days to go over the junk we have in the manuals, but we will have you cover the red one first and then move into the guts of the job. By the way, the restrooms are down the hall from here and I will get you a key to the men's room, I mean ladies' room, as soon as I leave here. Any questions before I go?"
"Not really."
"Okay, Monica, you are on your won. Oh, by the way…I will take you to lunch today in our company cafeteria. See you later," he said upon getting up from his chair.
Monica studied the manuals given to her and by the end of the day she was sick of reading and looking at flowcharts. At four-fifteen, Jim poked his head into her office and said, "Pretty boring stuff, isn't it, Monica?"
She shook her head in agreement.
"You can knock off for today, Monica, and I will see you tomorrow to discuss what you have read today. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Jim," she answered as he disappeared from her doorway.
She was happy to see the day go by, and happier to get into the car with Rose for the ride home.