3rd Sarah Bender, “Column for Ellis”

Column for Ellis

At exactly 9:01 am, I charged out of my apartment like it was my job. Nothing could stop me. I was late for work, and my boss, Angela Graham was not going to give me any mercy this time. I hopped into my new red Mercedes, cranked up the radio, and zoomed off.

As I approached the intersection, I burst out in laughter. In her pink convertible, with sparkly princess-like eyelashes on the headlights, I saw my best friend, Jennette Krammer drumming on her steering wheel across the way. “Jen!” I called, still giggling, “OMG!” Jennette yelled holding her head outside of the window, “What’s up?” “Ohhh, nothing just laughing…” I called out as my light turned green, “See ya!” I called. I slammed my foot on the gas and sped off.

When I finally arrived at my work, my regular spot was taken. I had to parallel park. (not a good scene) I nervously pulled in infront of a yellow Jeep Cherokee. And of course, I scratched it. “Shoot!”. Good thing it was only Jim’s car. No one really knows him, he seems really nice, so I don’t think he will mind, let alone notice. I frantically jumped out of my car, ran inside, and up the elevator to the sixth floor.

“Chelsea!” my boss exclaimed, in a fake, excited tone, trying not to freak out about my being late. Why isn’t she acting mad? I questioned to myself.

“Good morning Ms. Graham,” I said, no different than I usually do. I’m not myself at work. Away from work, I’m very outgoing and make my own decisions. I’m independent. Sure with my friends at lunch I’m normal, but my boss and half of my coworkers don’t have an idea of who I really am.

“I am pleased to tell you that you have been given a column in The Bank Street Times.” I was so excited! But how? I don’t even work for the paper.

“Well,” she continued, “If you didn’t know already, my boss here,” she said motioning to Mr. Ellis, “owns a large portion of The Bank Street Times and he knows you are an aspiring journalist. He was hoping you could write a piece on employee satisfaction at Ellis Corp.”

“Oh my goodness!” I cheered, “That’s fantastic, thank you so much, Mr. Ellis!”

I was stuck at my desk trying to think about something wrong with this place. It’s funny, I can see so many things wrong with my office, but the second I’m put on a task to write about one, my mind draws a blank. So, when in doubt, call Jennette! I picked up my phone and dialed in her number. Ring…! Ring…! Ring…!

“Hey, girl, hey!” squealed Jennette.

“Hey,” I said, “So you know Mr. Ellis…?”

“Yeah,” she said curiously, wanting more on this topic,

“Well,” I continued, “he gave me my own column in his newspaper to write about something wrong about the workplace. I think it’s for making things better around here, or something like that, I’m assuming it’s to make us feel ‘considered’.”

“Wow, that’s so great!” exclaimed Jennette. “You always complain about things at work! This should be easy for you!” She chuckled.

“Dummy, that’s why I’m calling you, I can’t think of anything.”

“Well..” she went on, “The toilets are nasty, the coffee tastes like watered down pee, your lunch break is only a half-hour, you only have ten vacation days… you don’t ha-.”

“Jen, ten is a lot of vacation days,” I stated.

“Yeah, but hon this is your chance to get more, somebody needs to come to Bali with me! So, you don’t-”

“Jen, maybe you should write this. You seem to have a lot of complaints!”

“Chelsea, I’m just giving you ideas” defended Jennette. We said bye and hung up.

That day when I got home and began to write, I came up with a great idea. I decided to write about the attitudes of people at work. I’m not going to lie, it’s mostly on Ms. Graham.

As a worker at Ellis Corp., I feel that there is an issue with attitudes at the office. People aren’t happy, and to me, this isn’t the proper environment to be in. When I get to work every day, I don’t feel welcome. This shouldn’t happen. Don’t we want people to enjoy themselves? Their Lives? Our lives?

The article continued. I knew I had a great idea. I hoped something good will come out of it.

Later that week I sent in my column. I didn’t realize I would have to be finished so quickly. It’s a great thing I work fast. I woke up this morning at 6:40 am, got ready, left my apartment, and drove to Tim’s. I was in the Drive-Thru line waiting for my Iced-Cap and toasted coconut doughnut when I saw someone call in front of me, it was Mr. Ellis. “Morning Chelsea,” he called to me in a casual voice, turning his neck so he could look me in the eye. “I read your column last night,” I was scared to hear what he was going to say next. “It was the best one I have ever read! I appreciate the honesty.”

“Oh!” I exclaimed, relieved. “That’s fantastic”

“I hope you keep up the good work, a job at The Bank Street Times may be in your future!” He turned left out of the parking lot, into the busy street. After that, I could tell that people were changing their attitudes already. Even the birds seemed happier. Now, with the sight of the big bright sun and having my warm doughnut in hand, I finally felt like I was making a difference.

Sarah Bender—3rd Place, 9/10 Fiction