secretary sweep

There aren't as many secretaries as there used to be. It used to be that most women who worked in businesses were called secretaries, paid much less than men and they often did significantly meaningful administrative work.

My first job out of college, in the year between college and law school when I hoped to convince my dad to let me off the hook about law school and support my wish to join the peace corps (the life unlived!) was not a secretary job. I was the administrative assistant to the president of a company that contracts to have automotive aftermarket car parts manufactured in Taiwan and then sold in the U.S. to Sears, Penneys (monkey wards?!), hardware store chains. We had a network of sales reps that I managed. It was a good job, actually. My boss, a disgusting pig, loved hiring smart women because they cost less and he knew smart women did good work.

So I guess I have never been a secretary, unless you count the few temp office jobs I took after law school while job hunting for a lawyer gig.

Anyway, in those days, there was a saying "the secretary sweep". It refers to the sedentary nature of a secretary's job and how her fanny can spread as she sits all day for years. The secretary sweep.

I have not thought of the phrase 'secretary sweep' until a few days ago. I was at a council meeting and saw a local business person take off her ubiquitous, and very cool, leather jacket. I saw she has developed a secretary sweep.

I love the phrase.