Cherchez La FMLA, Good Morning America and Me

This morning I woke up at 3:45AM, which The Huz would refer to as  "Oh Dark Early" and I ,without any gentility whatsoever, have been known to call it, "the crack of ass," to meet three friends from the Northern Virginia Chapter of Mothers & More to board a metro and head to The DC.  Given that I garnered second place in our college dorm contest "Who is the worst person to run into first thing in the morning?" (I at least would grunt recognition.  The winner, Amanda, wouldn't make any effort to acknowledge a soul.) it practically does take an act of congress to get me out of the house before sunrise.  But this morning. I did it!

The reason I left my house under cloak of darkness was to take part in  Good Morning America's "Take Control of Your Life Tour" which stopped here in The DC.  Specifically the Senate Russell Building.   We almost didn't make it to the building on time because of yours truly.  Have you ever gone to the grocery store more than once in the course of your day? Ever forgotten where you parked?  Think you parked one place and realized that was where you parked before and not now?  I had a moment like that.  Earlier this week I had gone into The DC and so I had it in my head we needed to get to Dupont Circle.  Ummm. That was where I went a couple of days ago.  Yeah, so because of me, we went a couple of stops in the wrong direction on the metro. Oops.   We got there on time. Went thru security and then into the elevator. Whereupon I almost exited the elevator on the wrong floor.  You see, I have an affliction.  If I am in an elevator and the door opens, I walk out.  It is practically Pavlovian and definitely embarrassing when I am with a group of people. Frankly, I am surprised that one of my arms is not longer than the other from the many years of being pulled back into an elevator by my parents.  We arrive on the third floor,

head to the appointed room and pick up our official "Take Control of Your Life" T-shirt.  As I look at Tory and her shirt, I realize she is sporting a v-neck version and I begin to covet it.  However, my sin does not last long as we go thru the line, grab a cuppa Joe a pastry and put all our stuff down.  We all take off our shirts put on our new shirts and wait for instruction.  I see familiar faces.

Shortly after our arrival, we gather at one end of the room amongst cameras and lights.  As we are line up, standing a few lines deep across the room, the GMA crew puts one person here, moves another over there and generally arranges us for where the camera needs us to be for the best shot. For one horrific moment I experienced a flashback to high school chorus and feared we would be expected to sing.  Turns out I was not the only one who had this visceral reaction to the risers being brought into the room.  My friend standing behind me leaned down and whispered enthusiastically, "I'm thinkin' all of my Sweet Adeline training will be coming in handy!"   Once we are all lined up and ready to go, Tory Johnson gives us our instructions to "Wave and cheer, hoot and yell" so loud we blow Diane Sawyer right out of her seat show the viewers how we rock The DC and share our excitement.  "Uh oh," I think to myself, "I've only had a few sips of coffee, I've been up since 3AM-ish.  How will I metamorphosize into a ball of positive energy in front of millions of people?" 

I willingly experience another high school flashback, only this time I hear my drama teacher's voice inside my head, "Think about what your character would do and create a motivation for yourself using your own life experience to conjure up the emotion you seek. Think about what makes you happy, then be happy and use that happiness for your character. If you channel the emotion, you can use that feeling now and it will be real. It will be there. No need to fake anything." Got it. My character is a mom and her kids are watching her on TV.  I think about dancing around in our kitchen, the kids and me, as we prepare a meal. Radio going, just rockin' out together and being all about fun and silliness.  There it is. I am in my happy place and ready to go.

So, like Wonderama Woman, I do it. I wave, I clap, I jump around, I grin from ear to ear, all for my kids who are watching back home with The Huz.  It works. Totally. (People, this is another reason to support The Arts in education!)   We do a couple of waving and hooting shots and then break for about 15 minutes.  We get coffee, we socialize and then it's back in formation. I walk over to where I had been standing and there is a woman occupying where I once stood. Knowing we were put in specific places according to the camera shots, I politely ask if I can have that spot back.  "No. You can't. I am staying right here." she tells me in a clipped British accent and she gives me a crusty. Wow.  Whoa. Yikes. Not expected at all.

Ignoring The Look, I press on giving her the benefit of the doubt. How can she be hating on me about something so trivial as a place to stand? So, thinking maybe she isn't a morning person and her affect may have been unintentional. I politely repeat my request.  She looks down at me (which is something I am used to since I am not a tall woman by any means) and responds "I'm not moving. That woman over there took my space, so I'm taking yours." I see. So that makes it right. Gotcha.  Ducky. No confusion here. She is hostile.  I consider moving but that would mean leaving the group I came with, so I decide to stay put.  I decide I am not inviting this woman to my birthday party.  So there! Occasionally a moment of quiet immaturity can be of use when one is confronted by someone else's flagrant immaturity.  More waving, more clapping, "Good Morning America!" Woot, Woot!  We are all having fun, even Miss Congeniality Hostility!

Now for the serious stuff as to why we were all there.  The televised/pre-recorded part of the segment followed the story of parents having a hell of hard time caring for their family and taking unpaid leave to do it.  The highlight of the segment featured Tory Johnson, GMA's Workplace Contributor speaking with Senator Christopher Dodd. Why Senator Dodd?  Because Senator Dodd is the Mack Daddy of Family and Medical Leaveauthoring it and spending 7 years and a couple of presidencies getting it ratified.  But step off he's mine!  (Well, actually I have to share him with his family. Oh...and millions of Connecticut constituents). I am proud of the fact that Senator Dodd is the Senator I grew up with and the one who has been at the forefront of family and children's policy since hitting The DC in 1974.  To anyone in The DC who is familiar with family and children's policy, Senator Dodd is like a rock star and when he's in da house Senate it's really hard not to swoon. 

Not too long ago I posted this, so you all know I have a Connecticut past.  I mentioned to Tory Johnson that I am from Connecticut but now live in The DC.  Maybe she mentioned this to someone, or maybe someone overheard me telling her, but bottom line is... a staffer touched me on the elbow and told me "I understand you are from Connecticut. We are going to make sure you get to talk to Senator Dodd."    And she did.

I spent a couple of minutes speaking with Senator Dodd, discussing how we both shared a familiar path, advocating for families prior to becoming parents ourselves. We reminisced for a few moments about this and that and then it was time for him to motor, but before he did, I handed him a couple of Parentopia tats.  At first he thought they were stickers. "Nope, they are temporary tattoos. I hope your kids enjoy them and so do you. The next time I see you, I hope you will be sporting one on the middle of your forehead."  Laughing he held them in his hand and off he went. 

We did have one photo op which is the pic at the beginning of this post and it was taken quickly and at a bad angle for both of us.  AW, the photog sent me the pic with an apology for the icky angle, I responded to AW by letting him know he need not apologize as this pic isn't the worst ever of me, this is, and then being a one worn out woman, I suggested that in future pictures the Senator might consider standing on his knees so the integrity of the shot need not be compromised.  Man, I really hope AW has a good sense of humor, and if not, gives me some latitude for being uncharacteristically informal.  Yes, I sometimes clown around and am a smart ass, but more commonly I do so with people who actually know me and not the staffers at my Senator's office!

(A better solution for the height difference might be for me to get a pair of

but if you have a more suitable suggestion, let me know.  It's a recurring issue. *sigh*)

I must thank the National Partnership for Women & Families as well as DC Metro Moms Blog for letting me know about this wonderful opportunity to come out and show support for PAID family and medical leave, a much needed, and long overdue, expansion of the original FMLA. 

(Grammatical Disclaimer: I am exhausted, got this post up quickly and I plead the fifth on the usage of past, present and future tense as I know I have it all mixed up. I also realize there are other errors but I am too tired to fix them.  I hope you will understand and cut me some much appreciated slack.)

Devra can also be found blogging with Aviva Pflock at Parentopia and is a contributor over at Props and Pans.