Poem of the Day
ABUSE
Frightened people scurry about
running to and fro
hiding here, hiding there
in their hidey holes
Pitiful figures they do make
shaking in their shoes
waiting for an abstract man
to notice what they do.
Poteau Continued: Have you ever known something wasn't right clear down to the bottom of your feet but didn't know how to stop it? That's the feeling I had about my husband taking the job in Poteau for a small, rural college. To begin with, Poteau had beauty, but nothing else. It was a town of approximately 8,000, enjoyed the standard Wal-Mart, a Stage, and a smattering of other businesses. It was a town that was proud of itself, but had nothing to show for it. Oh yes, it did have something else, "Spaniards" as our soon-to-be boss called the Mexican population that was establishing themselves in the area. You'd think that a college president would know the difference between Mexican and Spanish, but he didn't. Although I didn't care to live in such a small place, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the president of that college and I knew it with everything that was in me.
On our first meeting, he dripped charm and confidence, but underneath all that I sensed a cruel, self-serving and very selfish man. A man who would do anything and use any means to get what he wanted. Someone who expected to be not just obeyed, but worshiped. In short, the man was power hungry and no one had been able to stop him in 27 years.
One of the first things he did was to tell me I could not live where I wanted to. He informed me that the town I wanted to live in just outside Poteau was not a place that a Vice President should live, (this in regard to my husband) and that those people as he called the citizens of Shady Point, argued constantly. He kept saying "When you find a house) and I kept replying, "I have found one." He really annoyed me and I didn't try too hard not to show it.
A little backgournd, my husband and I had a deal, if I moved to that nasty little place with him, I could have any house I wanted. Not to be. The next thing Mr. President did was to inform my husband that all higher level staff had to live in the town of Poteau. I was very angry at both the President and my husband. I was angry at my husband because he didn't keep his word to me or even try to change the situation and at the President because he had the audacity to butt into my personal life coming between my husband and myself. I did not get the house I wanted and felt betrayed because I really, really, didn't want to move there. Whether I went or not, my husband was going. He made that clear. This was just the beginning of a time in my life I never want to repeat!
ABUSE
Frightened people scurry about
running to and fro
hiding here, hiding there
in their hidey holes
Pitiful figures they do make
shaking in their shoes
waiting for an abstract man
to notice what they do.
Poteau Continued: Have you ever known something wasn't right clear down to the bottom of your feet but didn't know how to stop it? That's the feeling I had about my husband taking the job in Poteau for a small, rural college. To begin with, Poteau had beauty, but nothing else. It was a town of approximately 8,000, enjoyed the standard Wal-Mart, a Stage, and a smattering of other businesses. It was a town that was proud of itself, but had nothing to show for it. Oh yes, it did have something else, "Spaniards" as our soon-to-be boss called the Mexican population that was establishing themselves in the area. You'd think that a college president would know the difference between Mexican and Spanish, but he didn't. Although I didn't care to live in such a small place, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the president of that college and I knew it with everything that was in me.
On our first meeting, he dripped charm and confidence, but underneath all that I sensed a cruel, self-serving and very selfish man. A man who would do anything and use any means to get what he wanted. Someone who expected to be not just obeyed, but worshiped. In short, the man was power hungry and no one had been able to stop him in 27 years.
One of the first things he did was to tell me I could not live where I wanted to. He informed me that the town I wanted to live in just outside Poteau was not a place that a Vice President should live, (this in regard to my husband) and that those people as he called the citizens of Shady Point, argued constantly. He kept saying "When you find a house) and I kept replying, "I have found one." He really annoyed me and I didn't try too hard not to show it.
A little backgournd, my husband and I had a deal, if I moved to that nasty little place with him, I could have any house I wanted. Not to be. The next thing Mr. President did was to inform my husband that all higher level staff had to live in the town of Poteau. I was very angry at both the President and my husband. I was angry at my husband because he didn't keep his word to me or even try to change the situation and at the President because he had the audacity to butt into my personal life coming between my husband and myself. I did not get the house I wanted and felt betrayed because I really, really, didn't want to move there. Whether I went or not, my husband was going. He made that clear. This was just the beginning of a time in my life I never want to repeat!
posted by Mines Broken @ Friday, September 26, 2003
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