Big Bird

The lady that runs the office has been here for years. 26 years actually, and she is highly organized and very capable of keeping the office in shape. God love her, she is actually a royal pain, but the office might cease to be if she weren’t here. I will describe her now:
- tall and fairly thin
- good dresser (even for an older woman)
- squeaky voice
- poor sense of humor
- prude
I really could go on, but you get the general idea. The last woman that worked here quit because of this office manager, she was just so hard on her (because of what I don’t know, but the rest of the staff liked the gal that quit) that it would make her cry, and finally she couldn’t take it any more.
So, back to what I was going to discuss in the first place: Big Bird (as she is called by the office staff) was gone this afternoon. There was going to be some large gathering at her house and she wanted to take off after lunch to prepare, and we weren’t busy enough to warrant her staying. Anyway, not five minutes after she leaves is it a whole different atmosphere around here. I know it shouldn’t really be a surprise, but it was, and even a few comments were made about how nice it is when she isn’t here. And we aren’t trying to be mean, but it can be hard to be serious all the time, especially in dealing with death day in and day out, and it was nice to be a goof ball.

Not part of the story, but a bit of background on the worker bees here:
Tank:
- He is about 58 years old or so (but looks younger), tall, and fairly fit.
- Been a funeral guy for a long time, probably 30 years at least.
- Married to a crazy feminist, who talks a mile a minute and is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas dinner the company has each year.
- Very private, doesn’t talk much a bout family (although getting a bit better, as he has learned that I tend towards the non-judgmental side)
- Also a licensed embalmer, but doesn’t embalm mush any more.
- He is the manager, and meets with a number of the families we serve
Buffy:
- He’s the other young person in the office, 28 or 29 years old
- works full time, although has one weekday a week that he takes off to work on his Master’s Thesis (in English, I think)
- Does quite a bit of office work, death certificate filing, phone answering, funeral service products, etc.
- Likes beer, one of the things we have in common.
- Plays in a band out at bars and clubs in the area. I went to see him perform once, and it was good, although his music style isn’t one I willingly chose very often
Buck:
- Been here for about 10 years, and worked in a cemetery office prior to becoming a funeral director/accountant for our place.
- Also is a pastor of a very small Christian church
- Banters constantly with Buffy, about everything from religion to war
- Was in the Vietnam War, and never fully recovered to a normal state of mind, although isn’t the typical Vietnam Vet the way we see them in movies. Was exposed to Agent Orange.

So, that’s about it for now…