EBOOK
About
Newly divorced, seeking a new life, Macy Madden moves from the Midwest to Baltimore. Through a conversation with a cousin and several entries from her journal, we learn what prompts her to make changes in her life.
Once in Baltimore, she lands a job at the courthouse in the pretrial division as Alcoholism Counselor with only a Bachelor's degree, no Master's, and some volunteer work in alcoholism. The job involves assessment for those arrested more than counseling. She sees signs of racism that she thinks didn't exist in the Midwest from whence she came, but she senses that it's a way of life here and, therefore, a situation to be addressed cautiously. Add to that the fact that she encounters a coworker, another woman, who seems to be bent on "testing" her, someone insecure in her position in spite of the fact that she's been there a considerable length of time. She dislikes Macy and eventually Macy gets backed into a corner and told her probationary period would be extended until her "work habits" were corrected. She was expected to conform to the proper behavior in her position. In a moment of anger toward the system as she saw it and at her coworker, and fearing what this attempt to control her behavior would mean, she flies off the handle and in a sense says they can take their job and shove it. This lands her out on the street with no income except the small amount of "maintenance" she is temporarily receiving from her former husband and her little bit of savings.
She goes to work for a temp agency and ends up at a small pediatric hospital where she is eventually hired to work for the doctor in charge of the clinic for low-income patients. Here, she is once again working with members of the poor black community, but this time, it's women and children, unlike Circuit Court where the clients were mainly men. She sees similar signs of racism in this environment as well, but tries to simply treat the patients and their moms as she would in any other doctor's office with the result that clinic day becomes quieter and more organized. This does not go unnoticed, not even by the welfare moms. But some of her coworkers are not pleased with all the attention she garners.
There comes a day when she is once again at odds with a coworker, this time her immediate supervisor. So again, Macy lets her high emotions rule and she leaves the job.
She lands a job in a law firm as a secretary, not something she really wanted to do, but the firm is about a mile from her home and she can walk there since she no longer has a car. Up to this point, Macy has been in two situations where she has been able to act out her socially conscious driven compassion. She was in contact with the poor population in these instances and Baltimore turns out to be a rather small town in many respects. Everyone seems to be connected in one way or another. Word has gotten around. There's this new kid on the block who is bent on doing things her own way.
She's noncompliant. This annoys most of the people she has contact with, but not all. Some people see this as an asset, some are afraid of it, afraid that she might try to rearrange the order of things.
At this time, a presidential election campaign is in full swing. One party has a plethora of candidates, one of whom, Randy Harrigan, is unmarried. The lawyers at this firm are involved in the party's campaign, mostly as donors, some as campaign organizers for the candidate. Unbeknownst to Macy, they have begun to talk among themselves about the prospect of getting Macy together with him to see what might develop.
Once in Baltimore, she lands a job at the courthouse in the pretrial division as Alcoholism Counselor with only a Bachelor's degree, no Master's, and some volunteer work in alcoholism. The job involves assessment for those arrested more than counseling. She sees signs of racism that she thinks didn't exist in the Midwest from whence she came, but she senses that it's a way of life here and, therefore, a situation to be addressed cautiously. Add to that the fact that she encounters a coworker, another woman, who seems to be bent on "testing" her, someone insecure in her position in spite of the fact that she's been there a considerable length of time. She dislikes Macy and eventually Macy gets backed into a corner and told her probationary period would be extended until her "work habits" were corrected. She was expected to conform to the proper behavior in her position. In a moment of anger toward the system as she saw it and at her coworker, and fearing what this attempt to control her behavior would mean, she flies off the handle and in a sense says they can take their job and shove it. This lands her out on the street with no income except the small amount of "maintenance" she is temporarily receiving from her former husband and her little bit of savings.
She goes to work for a temp agency and ends up at a small pediatric hospital where she is eventually hired to work for the doctor in charge of the clinic for low-income patients. Here, she is once again working with members of the poor black community, but this time, it's women and children, unlike Circuit Court where the clients were mainly men. She sees similar signs of racism in this environment as well, but tries to simply treat the patients and their moms as she would in any other doctor's office with the result that clinic day becomes quieter and more organized. This does not go unnoticed, not even by the welfare moms. But some of her coworkers are not pleased with all the attention she garners.
There comes a day when she is once again at odds with a coworker, this time her immediate supervisor. So again, Macy lets her high emotions rule and she leaves the job.
She lands a job in a law firm as a secretary, not something she really wanted to do, but the firm is about a mile from her home and she can walk there since she no longer has a car. Up to this point, Macy has been in two situations where she has been able to act out her socially conscious driven compassion. She was in contact with the poor population in these instances and Baltimore turns out to be a rather small town in many respects. Everyone seems to be connected in one way or another. Word has gotten around. There's this new kid on the block who is bent on doing things her own way.
She's noncompliant. This annoys most of the people she has contact with, but not all. Some people see this as an asset, some are afraid of it, afraid that she might try to rearrange the order of things.
At this time, a presidential election campaign is in full swing. One party has a plethora of candidates, one of whom, Randy Harrigan, is unmarried. The lawyers at this firm are involved in the party's campaign, mostly as donors, some as campaign organizers for the candidate. Unbeknownst to Macy, they have begun to talk among themselves about the prospect of getting Macy together with him to see what might develop.