Has anyone asked her?

When I was a young girl I was abused with words because both my parents were dead. I was the target of constant jokes about orphans. I was only 11 years old. I could ignore the words and most of the bullies, because I knew they were small-minded. Then the emphasis changed. I was a straight-A student, so they picked on me for my intelligence. If kids feel a need for a target they will find a way. If I were a boy, however, I would have had to deal with physical threats. I graduated from that school and never went back to that town. I hear the bullies still live there. I am glad I got out of that tiny town with its tiny minds. I feel so sorry for young boys who get bullied. I truly believe it is more difficult for them.

I don’t believe in Princeton-trained physicists. I do believe in the evidence I see every day.

I was laid off, once, in 1991, along with 30 other people in my department. Some people actually cried, but with nine years of severance pay clutched in my hand, I was happy to leave. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I learned to think outside my box. I taught art, I did temp jobs, and after 16 months, found the fulltime job I am still at today. Now they are talking about lay-offs, even though our work is fantastic. This time it will be about 60 people laid off, and I just want to retire. I don’t have the energy anymore.

I am a lapsed Catholic. I lapsed forty years ago, but I remember the suffocation of the church like it was yesterday. I have given things up for other goals, but never felt deprived. I put myself through college in the late 1970s, and never owned a television until the mid-80s. I missed nothing and gained something priceless—true concentration on my studies. To this day I barely watch that tiny-by-today’s-standards television. It is on a bookshelf, which, in itself, is quite telling. Now, computers, those are addicting.

I love the horoscope drawings—put them on snazzy tote bags—I’d buy it!

So what’s wrong with 4am? I love 4 am. When the clock reads 5am, however, I know it is time to get to bed. Why aren’t women who work the night shift ever acknowledged?