After 35 years of hiring and firing (truth be told, I’ve really only had to let one person go), I have found there is not much correlation between someone looking for a job and someone looking to work.
Trying to replace an employee of 10+ years is daunting. When our innerSpirit rattle “finisher” Pam Johnson gave me the news she would be leaving Alpine and J. Davis Studio at the end of May, I experienced the loss of both a friend and a trusted employee, and wondered how I could ever replace those qualities.
But as that door closed, within a few days a new one opened. For some time, I had noticed a woman performing lawn maintenance on a government building that I passed on my daily afternoon walk. I thought, “That lady is not afraid to work.” After Pam gave her notice, on a hunch, I stopped and introduced myself to Betty Jo Teague, the lawncare worker. I described the job I needed to fill, and without hesitation, she said she would like to give it a try.
I found out later that Betty Jo had lived in Alpine most of her life and that I knew her husband and her daughter-in-law. In a town of 5,000, you do end up knowing a lot of people.
Betty Jo was very anxious to start work so that if she could not do the task, I would still have time to replace her before Pam left. I found this extremely conscientious in a prospective employee. The more I talked to her, the more I realized that she, like Pam, was a woman of courage.
In 1983 she was broadsided by a car going 120 miles an hour. The majority of the bones in her lower torso were broken, which led to the diagnosis that she would never walk again. During a routine xray session on a tilting xray table, the technician failed to buckle the straps holding Betty Jo in place, and left the room for a moment. This infraction proved to the doctor that she could indeed stand on her own. After a total of 2-½ months in the hospital, the doctor told her if she was able to stand for a few moments, he would let her start physical therapy. She said that with divine guidance and a 2-year-old child at home, she was determined to walk again.
Betty Jo now walks around unaided and told me she will be having 3 grandbabies before the end of this year. Please help us welcome her as the newest addition to our studio!
– John
