It was wartime.
I was starting to date.
And my family had no phone.
What to do?
I had an uncle who was very ingenious.
And I had a next-door neighbor, Mrs. Small, who was very kind.
The balcony at the back of her house was joined to the balcony of the back of my house.
So my uncle thought up of a contraption.
I gave my dates-to-be Mrs. Small's telephone number.
When she got a call for me, she ran to the back of her house, and pulled a cord which was connected to a bell on my side.
I then ran to the back, jumped over the balcony railing, ran to Mrs. Small's phone.....and no one knew I didn't have a phone!
Now Mrs. Small was a very loving woman.
She was also a woman wise to the ways of the world we lived in
and how to conduct yourself in order to get what you wanted in the first place.
"Claire, don't let the boys know how smart you are. You'll never get married!"
I listened very respectfully.
I didn't argue.
But for the next 20 years I went my merry way.
I was gender-blind, Until .........
I became a first year lawyer in a well-known law firm.
And then for the first time I heard Mrs. Small's voice loud and clear.
And this time i listened.
Very, very carefully.
Professional survival was at stake.
This was the 70's,
The rules were very clear.
Women were not supposed to be "aggressive"
I transformed my outward demeanor.
So when I was in a negotiating situation with another lawyer,
I became sweet and sooooooo agreeable.
"I believe in being fair.....don't you?"
The word "fair" completely paralyzed my opponent.
Suddenly he became the good little boy who had gone to Sunday school.
I had used the equivalent of the poison dart the Joker in Batman used
to send over the phone to "kill" the person at the other end! "
I got double the settlement the lawyers in the office were expecting.
No one in the office could figure out why I was so successful in negotiations!
Thank you, Mrs. Small, O Wise One!
