Miss McCarthy,  Happy  Administrative Professional Day (formerly Secretary's Day)

 

There are teachers, then there are teachers and there is Miss McCarthy.  If you were a Miss McCarthy girl, I'm sure you still remember Dress Up Day, the Dictaphone headsets, taking dictation in Gregg Shorthand,  selectrix typewriters,  tight sweaters being taboo and  that long hair should be worn up to the office.  Well, there was more, but you get the picture.

 

I switched from college  to business courses at the end of tenth grade.  I had no idea when I did so, how much work I was in for when I walked into Miss McCarthy's secretarial procedures classes.  She was a perfectionist, which she believed was how to run an office.  I still remember her advise to observe and remember or what she called powers of observation.  Humor, warmth and teasing are not words that come to mind thinking about Miss McCarthy.  But she was extremely competent and had remarkable high goals for her graduates. 

 

She scared me.  Dress up day, the standards were strict:  stockings, foundation garments, gloves a matching hat and a business outfit were mandatory.  This day was a highlight of her program.  We all went up to her desk one at a time to be interviewed for a job. I wonder what she would think of the sandals and knit tank tops many office workers wear now.   I went to  Junior College in Boston after high school and worked as a secretary until I finished college.  Teaching was a second career for me.

 

Of all the high school courses that come to mind, Miss McCarthy's was the scariest one for me, but definitely, one of the most practical when it came to earning money in the days after high school.  Thanks, Miss McCarthy, all is forgiven.