I am in freshman writing at LSU. Everyone in English 1001 was required to write a profile about a person that has made a significant difference in the community. This is a profile about a woman whose good humor, relaxed attitude, and friendliness help many people in the Baton Rouge community more than they might realize. She does many things to help out the community, such as being a friendly face and a helping hand for bus riders, working as secretary at her local union, being vice president in her mass choir, and volunteering when she has time.
I rode the bus to the Capital Area Transit System’s bus terminal to interview the woman that is almost always at the customer service desk. I thought that, “This is someone people should know. She always looks happy and never gets upset with customers.” I walked into the bright waiting room, up to the customer service desk where there were people in line. A large clock hung on the wall above the first person in line, who was complaining about having to pay for a bus pass. They stormed past me and out of the door. I looked past the line, to the person behind the desk. Framed in yellow and white by phone books and new bus fare notices taped to the glass partition was a short woman with brown skin, eyeglasses, and curled, frizzy hair held back with a headband. Around her neck was a blue lanyard with many keys on it. Her mouth was turned up in a perpetual grin. Since I was next in line now, I walked up to the desk and hunched over to speak under the glass. A refreshing stream of air moved past my face as I looked at the office. She was in a room about four yards wide and three yards deep. There was a phone on her left and one on her right. Posted on the wall behind her were signs showing the office hours, the refund policy, more new fare notices, and an inspirational plaque.
She looked at me with a level gaze when I started speaking and smiled bashfully and nodded when I asked her if I could interview her. Her name is Emily Maten. She is from Greensburg, Louisiana, a small town with no traffic lights. I asked her what she did when she was a child. She said she liked playing jacks and one of her first jobs was babysitting. Now she likes to read and go out to Live After Five with her friends to listen to old school jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues. She has two daughters, two dogs, and one cat. She has a car, but takes the bus sometimes.
Emily has been working for CATS for eight years. Hired in 1999, she works six days a week, usually from 8:45 am to 5:45 pm. An older woman walked up to the desk and said, “Emily, Hey.” Emily said, “Hello.” I asked Emily what her favorite thing about her job is. She said the people are because there is “never a boring moment, a lot of drama.” She also is the secretary for her local union -1546 where they discuss bus company issues such as employment policies and pay raises. The phone on her right rings and she answers with, “Capital Area Transit”. It sounds like the person on the other end is asking about the Highland bus. “It’ll pick you up on Florida and 18th street. Yes ma’am, " said Emily. Emily has memorized the routes for 17 buses, but has the stop times at hand. When I asked how she thought CATS could be improved, she said they should have community bus meetings closer to the terminal and advertise more for them.
I asked Emily what her duties are for vice president for her church’s gospel choir. She keeps an account of who is in the choir and tells everyone what to wear for special anniversaries. She also gives the choir members tips on singing. I asked her if she could give me, an English 1001 student, a tip. Two girls appeared at the counter, though and asked, “When is the next Bluebonnet coming?” Emily told me to hold on a minute while she helped the girls. When she came back, she told me, “Always pay attention to the musician and the director of the choir. She also told me, “You got to feel the spirit and sing from your heart, so the congregation can feel the spirit.”
A man walked up and started gesturing with his hands and pointing to the buses outside. I think he was trying to figure out what bus to take. He wrote Emily a note and she wrote back the answer. Next I asked Emily what she did when she volunteered at the Baton Rouge River Center. She volunteered there after hurricane Katrina, while the bus terminal was closed for three days. She helped people find the buses that they needed to get to relatives. Emily helped one lady that was trying to go to Kentucky. Emily put her on a bus to Nashville, Tennessee where she could transfer onto a bus to Kentucky. When I asked Emily if she or the bus terminal was changed because of the hurricane she said it wasn’t. She also helped the Baton Rouge community by volunteering with Hands On Baton Rouge at the Sweet Dreams women’s shelter after work. She smiled and said that it was fun. She helped out at a big birthday party that the shelter held once a month.
When I was ready to go, I thanked Emily for her time and promised to bring her a copy of our interview. She smiled and nodded just like she had when I first asked to interview her. I think that this was a good topic for freshman writing at LSU. Through my English 1001 interview, I learned what it is like to have a good job, how to get leadership experience through volunteering, and how to experience more of the community. I enjoyed meeting and getting to know Emily and I hope that many people read this and go to see her.
by: Katie Clarke
No comments:
Post a Comment