Picture Essay - Spin Cycle

This week's Spin is Photo Essay and Gretchen offered up a photo out of her own personal stash for everyone to write an essay about. I took that as a dare. Go read what she wrote...go on, I'll wait. See? It was a dare; wasn't it? Yeah, I thought so.

Here's the photo. Followed by my essay.

After the day that the girls had in the steno pool they really felt that they needed to blow off a little steam. That Mr. Roberts was on a tear again and when he is there is not fast enough shorthand in the world to appease him.

With their fingers aching with cramps the girl popped open a few beers, lit up a few smokes and let down their hair.

Beatrice or Bea to her friends was regaling all the girls with the latest on dit about Gloria in accounting and her new boyfriend. Bea was the fashion plate of the bunch. She was the one that all the other girls looked up to. Her, with her rolled down stockings, pill box hats, and brightly flower tops made all the others feel just a little daring by just being with her, inside she was a huge ball of insecurity but the girl's would never know. She was just to the left of the wild side and a little on the right of tawdry. The others loved her for it.

Janice was the joker. With her unfashionable long dark hair which all the men loved and her bright and bubbly humor, she charmed everyone around her. Using her hair as a mustache, who would think to do that? Janice would, that's who. She's always clowning. The only problem with Janice in the girls eyes was the fact that if you got a couple of beers in her, which was the case tonight, Janice became a little sloppy. Not in a bad way, just in the fact that you had to pour her into bed, way. It amazed the gals that the next morning Janice was once again bright and chipper while they all had sore heads.

Betty, (gawd, how she hated that name, could her mother have named her Elizabeth? No! It was just Betty. Plain ole Betty. Straight up boring Betty, gawd! Did it get any worse?) sat slightly bored or maybe just a little drunk (maybe she shouldn't have indulged in that second beer) watching the antics of Bea and Janice. Her day had been particularly bad. After getting chased around Mr. Thomas's desk by no less than Mr. Thomas, the old goat, she caught a snag in her last pair of hose. This, of course, turned into a major run. At that point, even rolling them down like Bea's wouldn't have worked. Not that she would have rolled them down. She wasn't near as brazen as Bea. While she knew that she would never be a flashy as Bea or as madcap as Janice she was smarter than both of them. It was an acknowledge fact among the group. Betty was smart. How else could she have risen to the rank of steno pool supervisor? Not by getting chased around a desk that's for sure.

Linda and Carol were sisters and as like as two peas in the same pod, even though Linda was the older by 10 months. Linda and Carol had an inside joke about how THAT happened. Anyone seeing their parents would have wondered how they were ever conceived in the first place. That Pop was a sly one. They loved hanging out with the girls after work. Bea and Betty had a place of their own which meant that the girls could kick their heels up without their parents knowing. Their parents were always safely tucked into their bed when the girls rolled in late. Then again their parents must have spent a lot of time in bed considering that Linda and Carol were just 2 of 12 children.

As the evening rolled on Linda and Carol helped slightly sloshed Janice to bed (she was once again crashing at Bea and Betty's place. Really, she might as well move in and help with the rent), walked to the nearest bus stop to catch the #59 to their home, where undoubtedly Mom and Pop were busy making number 13 of their ever growing brood. Just thinking about THAT made them queasy.

Betty (boring Betty, *sigh*) crawled in next to where Janice lay softly snoring, thinking, "why is it that Janice always gets put to bed in my bed? Why not, Bea's? Oh well, at least she doesn't take up much room."
 
Bea locked up the apartment, checked the windows, turned out the lights and went to bed, knowing that the other girls would never realize that for all her panache she was still that insecure little girl.

Good Night.

So there is my Photo Essay. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. What a horrible adage but it makes my point. I've fulfilled Gretchen's photo essay dare (don't tell me it wasn't, Gretchen) and Jen's Spin Cycle for this week.

Have a lovely day everyone.
Love,
M