I Work at the Moose Lodge, What Do YOU Do?

If you’re a longtime reader of my blog, you probably know that I’m a consultant, and I work from home. My sisters-in-law, Rita & Kay, were huddled together at my house last Thanksgiving, and Kay motioned me over. Kay asked, "Jenni, what do you do exactly? I asked Rita, but she just didn’t know." I never know how to answer this question because part of my job is explaining to gentleman with advanced degrees that, yes, cows can in-fact stand on a hillside, and no, two cow legs don’t become shorter than the other two over time. (May I please, please, please get my honorary doctorate now?) But, really my basic job description is the normal – tech support for the tragically untechy, proofing, writing standardized test questions, creating world peace, curing cancer, etc., etc. (although, Dr. Williams does understand my limitations . . . I have no sense of direction, and he refuses to use any marketing materials I create).

But Kay’s question reminded me of a trip to Knoxville Kay, her husband, Billy, my husband, Tony, and I took several years prior. Tony told me years ago that Kay, a fiery redhead, over a decade his brother’s junior, worked at the Moose Lodge. As a young, naïve girl, I took this as fact. I had never been to a Moose Lodge at that point in my life. BUT, my bestie, Desi, married a man named John, strangely resembling Reuben Kincaid from ‘The Partridge Family.’ John was a member of the Moose Lodge. John was also a serial killer. So, for me, the reputation of the Moose Lodge was forever sullied after realizing that they’d allow a member such as Reuben, errr, I mean John, to hold a moose head pin.

I asked Kay on this trip, "What exactly do you do at the Moose Lodge?" I had envisioned her basic job description to be holding the serial killers at bay . . . tricky, tricky. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "I’m the Parks and Recreations Planning Manager for the city of Smyrna," she explained. Tony asked, "Oh, when did you leave the Moose Lodge?" To my extreme relief, Kay answered that she’d NEVER worked for the Moose Lodge (although, my husband had been telling people that for years. Kay was THRILLED to learn that bit of trivia). I’m relieved. It is dangerous work dealing with serial killers on a daily basis.