The Friday before Labor Day in 1996, there was a 42-car pileup on I5 south of Seattle. Miraculously, only one person died. She was one of my co-workers. After two weeks in a coma, never regaining consiousness, she was removed from life support. It was shortly after my 22nd birthday. In the weeks and months … Continue reading “Preparing for the worst”

The new office building’s decorators had chosen fancy floor-to-ceiling stall doors in the restrooms. The heavy wooden louvered doors looked posh, they were incredibly private, and they matched other decor elements in the building. There’s only one problem: the building’s women couldn’t tell when the stalls were occupied. Now here’s a thing that y’all might not know, … Continue reading “Learning from the ladies’ room”