"Every time you smile at someone it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
Mother Teresa
 |
| Sojourn (from Timeout's website) |
After publishing my Labor Day blog piece Monday
night, music wafted up through my window from across the street at
Sojourn. I’m on vacation, right? I owed it to myself. So I crossed the street and entered a
relatively quiet Sojourn (Everybody must have been still coming home from the
Hamptons). The usual regulars were
there. I guess I’m now one, too. (Many do know my name..) Karen and the Sugar Daddies were tremendous!
Tuesday I was up and out down to Tribeca to do some
volunteer work through New York Cares. I
was to spend a couple of hours with FEGS in their Job Readiness Program. From its website: The Mission of FEGS: To
help each individual achieve greater success, independence and dignity – at
work, at school, at home, and in the community – by providing a diverse network
of cost-effective health and human services, which meet the changing needs of
the Jewish and broader communities, business and our society. My work came under this description: FEGS Employment Services offer a range of job placement,
resume preparation, training, and support services to individuals who seek
employment or job-upgrading – regardless of being unemployed, under-employed,
or working full or part-time.
Nervous, as what kind of expert am I? I went anyway. It was only a couple of hours, and if I
failed miserably, at least I gave it a go.
A disheveled Man about my age came in as I was reading through some
informational paperwork given to me while I gathered my confidence. I was asked if I was would like to work with
him. He was new to the program, and I
asked for his patience as I was too. The Dental Hygienist in me immediately mentally went to
the treatment he needs, at the very least the help of a good Hygienist to “clean”
him up. The Mom in me wants to scrub him
from head to toe. Both of these pieces of me would love to have him stop
smoking. The “Stylist” in me wants to
take him shopping for clothes and a bag to replace the big smelly plastic
trash bag he carries his water soaked and rotten belongings, including his
almost destroyed papers, resume among them.
(Oh, the poignant feeling I have rolling around..memories of Dad and a favorite Patient from many
years ago in Southie. “Mr Mac” whom I mentally
lovingly called my “Bag Man” lived in a rooming house on Beacon Hill, and came
faithfully to each appointment with all of his earthly possessions in what were
like leather horse saddlebags . Mr Mac
was a character to say the least. I
loved seeing him. Many days he would
frustrate the h..out of me; mostly because he painfully reminded me of where my
Dad was heading. But with time he knew
all of mine and my co-worker’s Children’s names.
He collected their pictures and said they were on his bureau, which I
believe. He would bring each a couple of
dollars for us to bring home to them (which I did!) Oh, the pain of mental illness..but
here I hugely digress again). Back to
my session with my Client. He is very intelligent. Life has
definitely taken its toll. The two
hours flew by! We stayed until we were
begged to leave as it was lunch time. We
felt so good about what we had accomplished that we asked if we could come back
the next day, and were granted permission.
 |
| From Yelp |
As I meandered through Tribeca over to Soho, now
hungry, I fell upon an interesting looking little place, 12 Chairs on the
corner of MacDougall and King Streets.
It is Mediterranean/Israeli with hints of its Russian past. I thoroughly enjoyed lamb kebabs with amazing
homemade hummus and pita bread, washed down with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Perfect.
 |
| SIBL from its website |
From that wonderful experience I went to Midtown to
the Science, Industry, Business Library (SIBL) for a free PowerPoint
class. It was a great first step. If I want to change careers, I feel I am
going to have to get learned in so much more technology. And, once again, God love the NYPL system,
their myriad of free classes is amazing, and easy to take advantage of. I love doing so.
 |
| from Yelp |
Tuesday evening, I prepared a wonderful dinner for
myself with bounty from the neighborhood Green Market, including a tiny
roast. Then at around 10:30 I once again
crossed the street to my now beloved Sojourn for more live music. A bit more crowded, but comfortably so, as the
crowd is mixed with many people my age, so I don’t feel the Mom always hanging
with the kids, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I didn’t get the name of this trio, but the guitar player was
amazing. And, as an added treat, once of
the regulars, Carl the Musician, jammed along on his trombone. I can’t wait to hear his saxophone.
Wednesday morning I met with my Client. As the morning progressed I discovered more and more about him,
his education and training were in theatre/acting. To feed himself, he had done paralegal,
marketing, and publishing work which included a lot of proofreading. He proved that skill as he picked over the resume
we created with a fine toothed comb. Our
end result was a pretty good resume, if I do say so myself! I do hope and pray that my Client is successful in
his endeavors. I feel pretty good about
any small part I may have played in that.
Then I headed to Murray Hill for a job
interview! As I played around Craigslist
on Monday I saw an intriguing advert for a “Receptionist/Patient Manager”. I sent a letter with resume attached Tuesday
morning and Dr called almost immediately and wanted to meet. He is an endodontist (root canal specialist) so he would never need a dental hygienist.
But my many years in Dentistry he liked and I must say the job
description is interesting. It would be
pivoting in my career in Dentistry (as a friend from RoofTop Films suggested I
try). There are some red flags..Is it my
exhaustion, my lack of faith and trust in dentists after all these many years? I am sleeping on it, and we plan to talk next
week.
I then went home for a few hours to the Hx3 fixing
myself my favorite salad, caprese, from the bounty of the Greenmarket. Then I scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen so
that it’s clean when I move in soon! Off
I went , again, down to Solar 1 on the East River on 23rd
Street. to volunteer with Rooftop Films. I had been to Solar 1 before for
Holi, the Hindu Festival of Spring.
From Rooftop Film’s website: Rooftop Films,
Pivot, and The Fledging Fund presents an evening of discussion, activism and
celebration, including live music and a special sneak preview of this acclaimed
collaborative film, made by several filmmakers, about the causes of social
injustice in contemporary America and the ongoing spirit supporting social
change.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film will be released theatrically
by Participant Media in New York and LA on September 6, 2013 and will air on
Pivot, Participant Media’s new TV network, on September 17 9pm EST. Spread the
word! www.takepart.com/99percent
 |
| Naomi Wolf |
A panel discussion will follow the screening featuring Naomi
Wolf, founding directors/producers Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, director Nina
Krstic; Pam Brown of Move to Amend/Occupy Student Debt, Josh Silver and Eddie
Geller of Represent Us, and Iris Maria Chavez of Education Trust.
As always, it was a wonderful night; from the
picture perfect September evening, to the funky music played by Maria Minerva
from Esotonia. The film was incredible but
it did evoke infuriation, which was the point, I believe. The panel discussion built on that. And, the call to action made me believe that,
perhaps, even though the Occupy movement has certainly been a bit quiet in the past
two years, it is not dead. Indeed this
is a call to revolutionize…I will not turn this into a political blog…But it
was an interesting night. And, I admit,
I did some gushing. I’ve been a fan of
Naomi Wolf’s since I read her first book, “The Beauty Myth” many years
ago. As I was helping with the cleanup I
walked right by her. I turned around and
asked her if I may gush. She let me, and
proceeded to introduce me to her friends and colleagues. Now I’m a bigger fan.
Needless to say I slept well that night.
