NONFICTION  -
     WITH THE THEME OF WORK   

I worked in Manhattan for ten years after that.  -   photo by Weebly.com                                    

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Knowing When to Quit
by  Cathy Fiorello

​​I like to think I’ve lived my life as someone who doesn’t give up. Hang in there. Follow your dreams. You can do it. Platitudes, all, but I have tried to push myself forward against all odds. But knowing when to quit has served me just as well.
 
I had been working as secretary to the creative director at Raymond Spector Advertising Agency on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. We had just one account that was so lucrative, we didn’t need any others. That account was Hazel Bishop Lipstick which, we promised in all our ads, was “Kiss-Proof—It Stays On You, Not On Him.”
 
Women fell for the lie and bought the lipstick. The slogan and the campaign were so successful that we ran modified versions of the same ad, with the same slogan, for the three years I worked there. My boss, the creative director who wasn’t allowed to create, drowned his frustrations in long, liquid lunches. I, too, could have written those ads in my sleep, so I began covering for him by meeting the deadlines he missed.
 
When this had gone on for a while, I asked him if I could move up to a copywriting job. He agreed to speak to Mr. Spector on my behalf. He reported back to me, using Mr. Spector’s exact words: “Why take a good secretary and make her a bad copywriter?” Request denied. I went home seething that night. The next morning, I marched into Mr. Spector’s office without knocking, and announced, “I quit.”
 
Determined not to take another secretarial job, I spent a month creating a portfolio of bogus ads that had never run. I didn’t think they would fool the people who interviewed me, but at least they showed I could write. I started answering want ads at agencies, magazines, and book publishers. After canvassing several ad agencies without success, I answered an ad for a copywriter at Parents magazine and was called in for an interview. Its offices were located at 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, and I didn’t know how to get there. My father, who always helped me with directions, didn’t know either. “When you get to Grand Central Station,” he said, “find the taxi stand and take one to Vanderbilt Avenue.” 

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​Dressed in my navy blue interview suit and pristine white gloves, I got into a cab, and in my most worldly voice, I announced: “52 Vanderbilt Avenue, please.” The driver turned to face me. “That would be across the street,” he said. “Think you can walk that far?”
 
My composure was shattered, but I got the job.
 
I worked in Manhattan for ten years after that. The barbs of surly cab drivers didn’t change, but I did. I walked the city, getting lost and finding my way with the help of strangers. I spent weekends exploring the many delights of Central Park. My jobs were on the East Side, but I crossed over to the West Side to experience the thrills of Broadway. I accelerated my pace, became attuned to the rhythms of the city, and made it mine.
 
I didn’t do it alone. The editor who hired me at Parents started out as my boss, then became my mentor and lifelong friend. She took me under her wing and I followed her lead, not only on the job, but after hours, too. She introduced me to her city and the world beyond. She passed her passion for Paris on to me, unveiling the wonders of a fabled city to a young girl who has been infatuated with it ever since.
 
How different my life would have been had I not walked away from the Raymond Spector Advertising Agency in a snit.

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​Find your passion and follow it!   -  Oprah Winfrey 
Cathy Fiorello’s passions are food, Paris, and writing. A morning at a farmers’ market is her idea of excitement and visiting Paris is her idea of heaven. And much of her writing is about food and Paris. She worked in publishing in New York, freelanced for magazines during her child-rearing years, then re-entered the work world as an editor. She moved to San Francisco in 2008 and published a memoir, Al Capone Had a Lovely Mother. In 2018, she published a second memoir, Standing at the Edge of the Pool. Cathy has two children and four grandchildren. Her mission is to make foodies and Francophiles of them all.

Other works in this issue:
Nonfiction:
Take Me
​Standing at the Edge of the Pool

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