I lived now with a nineteen year old woman (my age!) named Anne. I would never take Chem 1 again. It would interfere with debian and I made that very upfront. She was proud of me. She was going to AA and was off it too. Great. Her mother was young and caring and this was totally acceptable and cool to me. I tried to act suave for my new housemate. She was had just been hired by a marketing firm downtown called Cat Lady Marketing. She said she was very excited and that I should apply there because I was a writer and she was the only one there besides her boss. It was tempting to me and I was losing my willpower to say no. I could give my two-week’s notice and move in with her. I would have a higher paying job which utilized my skills better. I said I wasn’t ready for an important career, especially with my psychological issues at the time.
“They love creative people,” she said. It was owned by local artists who were trying to make it big and they accepted anything new and anyone out of the ordinary.
Would this be a repeat of what happened last time? I was terrified living with Macy before. Could I really do that to myself again? The new apartment was so nice and I think I truly loved Anne but did we have to be together? I remembered Macy was so much older than me.
I applied for the job. When I got the call, my female friend screamed. I had to stay with her, for sure. I needed to show up in just three days with khakis and tie. The place had a large splash of paint on the back wall because it was a very creative environment. Thankfully, I was only tasked with filing at first.
I was overwhelmed by my new job so I asked Anne out. She said yes but didn’t want a physical relationship. I guess I didn’t really either. Things were really looking up.
The first day of work I lost track of several files. I would have gotten fired if I wasn't a newbie. They said to pay more attention to where they put things which made me wonder if they knew about my injury. It shouldn't have mattered. I could have even had a better chance at doing well if I told her but I decided not to.
The company created online movies to market bands, artists, and even small businesses in the downtown area. It was expertly managed by a man named Daniel. He was the kind of boss that was open to anything being a creativity leader. He even said that I could try my hand at marketing, after I showed him my stories. But for now, we would stick to filing.
Anne was especially interested in his offer. She said with our skills, we could totally reshape the marketing firm's strategies. Of this I was more than skeptical. Daniel intimidated me.
“Anne, tell me what you know our boss. We can work based on that.”
She showed her patience again and said it was none of my business.
My boss Daniel was overly excited at work the next day. He was telling Anne that he had landed a great new client. It was a pharmaceutical house. A small branch of the pharmaceutical house, sure, but they were looking for experimental advertising proposals for their new medicine.
Anne thought this was a huge deal. She screamed again, and then again when she saw the contract. Daniel's firm was being paid over $25,000 in advance for proposals for the medicine debian.
It was the medication I took. It was the medication that changed my life, or that heralded a new period in my life at the least. I asked why debian and not something more everyday like aspirin. He said it was a very successful drug pharmacologically but the public stigmatized anti-psychotics. It was their job to improve its image as an answer for schizophrenics, bi-polar types, and depression sufferers. It was a great job for them and I was happy, too. But it seemed odd to me that the firm would be working on this medication. I thought secretly that I was going to brainstorm my own ideas about the project. After a week I showed Anne the idea.
"Sex, huh? I thought you didn't want to have sex."
"Well, it's a start right?" I said.
I had written 3 pages out and printed them as a proposal for Daniel. The idea was to illustrate the drug as a sexual icon. In the commercial, fashion and sex appeal was intended to persuade the public that debian led to an improved sex life. I believed in the idea. I thought that, although I wasn't having sex, it was by choice and in fact I had grown out of childhood and into adulthood because of my prescription. It may have had something to do with the TBI, but without debian I wouldn't have felt whole, and my confidence would not have been there.
Sex, the commercial displayed in large text with funny music (in the script) could be a good or a bad thing depending on the behavior related to it. Without debian to help, the behavior could be negative. debian was how to play hard to get and score the partner you were looking for. And sex was a healthy activity, the actor said, which cleansed the mind and body. Are you getting any sex? Are you expressing yourself in the most beautiful of ways with a partner? Call your doctor today.
It was my innocence and upfront attitude that always made the older adults laugh when I was involved in any kind of sexual activity or discussion, and that's why Daniel thought my idea was so hilarious. I should have expected the dismissal, but I think he was impressed and encouraged me to try again.
Anne's idea was less popular but overall of better quality.
Two workdays later I made a second attempt, this time of a more complex variety. I labelled the folder "Article 2" and put it on Daniel's desk.
"What's this?" he asked.
I became very nervous and started to grab it back as if I had accidentally placed it there. Ever since the accident I was more socially insecure. But I gave it a shot, and thought ironically of the medicine, and said "Article 2 is the answer to your pharma contract."
"Really now?" He was getting a little impatient. I thought he might not have liked my first idea as well as he had said.
This script was all about inspiration. The actor tells a personal story about perseverance and how debian helped him remain strong until the last moments of a problem he had with his social anxiety. On debian, he could exercise his willpower in a new way that gave him more stamina and his problems were slowly but surely going away, because he could outlast them. Are you in for the fight? Talk to your doctor about your prescription to debian.
Although Anne helped me with this one, too, it was quickly unapproved. Daniel told me to try again. This attempt was missing something important. I would have Article 3 ready in a week.