PHOTO PROMPT © Rowena Curtin
These days she was feeling the heat. Her old boss kept claiming her ideas until he was promoted to division chief. The new boss, twenty years her junior, learned all he could from her then downsized her. A trickle of unemployment benefits were left and the headhunters could only offer positions for half her previous salary.
Her once rising star had ellipsed and was now a dark satellite plunging down at the whims of existential gravity.
She sold her condo at a tidy profit, loaded her SUV with essentials, and headed West. These days she’s a blackjack dealer in Vegas.
[100 days]
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host with the most of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
Great story.
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🙂 Thank you!
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You’re welcome
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I’m not sure what the route to advancement for a blackjack dealer, but hopefully she’s happer
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I think she decided to throw the traditional ladder away, Neil. I think she is, thank you.
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happier, I meant
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Yep, unfortunately it does happen and those in that position can’t do a whole lot.
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Thank you for your comment, Trent. It’s commonplace in the cutthroat world of corporatocracy (sp?)
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Coroporatocracy! What an apt, stinking word is that! Great story. Has a ring of truth. Is it a true story?
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Thank you, Neel. Not my personal story but true for many.
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Ha ha – good for her!!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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🙂
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Vegas doesn’t seem like such a bad place to end up, with a steady job too.
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One of my old co-workers (back when I worked) said that’s what she wanted to do when she retired. She didn’t, but…
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Wow, such stories are sadly not uncommon, but I love this character, Lisa. A pivot to being a blackjack dealer speaks of a spirit and resilience that’s not going to stay down long!
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Great comment, Dora, you’re right!
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Maybe in the end she has a better life… at least it’s good to leave bitterness behind.
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I agree, and yes it is, Bjorn.
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I am glad she shut the door on the past, and how her new career brings her happyness
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I am happy for her also, on her new adventure.
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A happy ending…and they have no one left to pilfer from! (K)
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Yes!
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I like how she moved on to something new and exciting. 🙂
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Yes! I imagine she’s in a much better place now.
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This could very well be a true story these days…greed has overtaken companies.
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For sure, Max. I just got home a bit ago. My mom is home and doing well.
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I was going to email you and ask you…that is awesome!
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Now that she’s feeling better she is back to her cantankerous self. lol.
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LOL
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And I’m certain she’s a lot happier in her new environment. 🙂
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🙂
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A deep life story, so true and real in it’s feeling.
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Jude, thank you.
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Always my pleasure Jade🙏🏾🧡
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🙂 ❤
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She sounds like a winner to me!
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🙂
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At least she made a new start and ended up with a job. Hopefully the men who kept stealing her ideas were found out when it turned out they were actually rubbish without her help.
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Thanks, Dr. Ali. That’s the thing, those kind always find fresh brains to suck on.
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Thanks for the smile to get my afternoon under way 🙂
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You are very welcome 🙂
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good for her. she learned to play with the cards she has been dealt with. 🙂
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Great response, considering where she went 🙂
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Dear Lisa,
I hope she’s much happier. Having been a target for those corporate downsizers, I understand. Perhaps it’s time for me to tell the story of how someone got fired for saying, “Hunky dory.” Some of the crap they pull is mind boggling, isn’t it?
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, I’m sure she is. I would like to hear your story about “Hunky dory.” Isn’t it ironic that the ones who say the truly harassing comments never seem to be let go?
Shalom,
Lisa
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Oh, you brightened my day (not). Nicely crafted.
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Thank you, Bill. Why the not??
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So she played her cards right and got a better deal 😉
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🙂 You aced those guesses.
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Good for her … she threw caution to the wind.
Sometimes, especially when you’re younger, you can
make changes to your life without too much stress.
Hope it paid off for her in more ways than one.
Be well … Be Safe
Isadora 😎
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Thanks much, Isadora. Question: are you also at #FF as Dora?
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No 😳 I post as Isadora. There are some who refer to me as Izzy or Issy. It’s o k because that is a nickname used by people who know me. Hope this helps 😃 happy weekend 😃😍😎
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OK cool, just wondered. Have a great weekend, yourself Isadora, aka Izzy!
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👍 😃 😎
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Fun story😊
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Thank you, Sue 🙂
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Ground down again and again, I hope she finds happiness in Vegas. Good stuff
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Thank you, Shrawl.
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I’m glad she could be free from her past disappointments and on to a happier life (I hope). Sounds freeing. I found encouragement in your story. Nicely done!
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Thank you much, Brenda. Your takeaways from it are right on 🙂
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I love the cynical voice you’ve found for your protagonist! Good luck to her.
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Thank you, Penny!
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Trent and I had a brief discussion about how easily people are discarded. Your story fits right in. Good for her for finding her own path, which will hopefully lead her to happiness.
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I love everything about this story – except how it turns out for this person! Even then, blackjack dealer IS pretty cool. I bet she knows all about reading players. 🙂
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🙂 Thanks much, Anne, I bet she does also.
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Love your story.
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Great story.
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Sounds like she decided to play her own deck of cards instead of being played. Good for her.
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Good way of putting it, Na’ama, yes she did.
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Gosh well that’s a career change for you. Well told.
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Thank you, Laurie.
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