The Vision. Linda Blum
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taking pictures of children could be. Trying to get them to smile at times was a feat in itself. Especially when some parents expected their children, even the really young ones, to give picture perfect smiles for the camera every time. The energy created from this pressure to perform drained Judy, as well as the children. In the end a power struggle erupted so no smiles were given, parents became upset and Judy got frustrated. The situation was utterly ridiculous to her.
What added to her annoyance even more was the company’s policy on scheduling shoots. Not much time was allocated in the camera room for picture taking. Their reasoning behind this was that children’s attention spans were short, so if they wouldn’t cooperate within the allotted time, than the whole process became futile. At first Judy thought this sounded reasonable. Being a mother she knew Jay would not sit still for long periods either, but after awhile she started to feel that their policy held more of a corporate view than a customer service one.
Trying to keep up with this pace was brutal. At one point she checked the appointment book and noticed the sheets were full. This meant very little time was assigned for employee breaks, or even the chance to get caught up when the shoots ran longer than expected. This created agitated staff and angry customers, which in turn affected the quality of the photography.
Judy began preparing the room for the mother/daughter shoot. She surveyed the room with a critical eye making sure the props and backgrounds were all in place. Martha entered briefly glancing around the room giving Judy a nod of approval before introducing Helen and Lynn. When Judy got them positioned, a twinge of longing for her own mother surged within her. She pushed the feeling aside and tried to focus on her job.
As the camera started clicking, Judy produced beautiful pictures of their mother/daughter connection. When the shoot was done, both Helen and Lynn were ushered over to the sales table to review them. Ann, their salesperson, did her spiel in hopes of a big sale. Her pitch paid off, as the women purchased many portraits. As Judy looked at the screen, she envisioned herself with her mother. Visions of them smiling and the closeness they once shared flooded her thoughts. It wasn’t until the images disappeared from the screen, that Judy was brought back to reality. The realization struck her that it was just a daydream and nothing more.
Her gaze strayed to the clock on the wall and she realized it was time to go home. She headed towards the employee’s room relieved that the day was finally over. She grabbed her purse and coat and started for her car.
The drive home was slow. Judy was trying to shake her sullen mood when her cellphone rang.
“Hi, ho Judy.”
Hope’s cheerful voice chimed over her cell.
“I was calling to see if you were on your way yet.”
A guilty feeling came over Judy when she realized she forgot about their dinner plans.
“I’ll be another ten minutes,” Judy estimated, looking at the car clock.
“See you soon.”
Judy hung up and quickly dialed Ren.
“Hello.”
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Hi there hot stuff, what’s up?” he said huskily.
“I forgot I made dinner plans with Hope tonight,” Judy started.
“Not a problem,” Ren replied. “You two have fun. Jay and I can fend for ourselves.”
“Thanks,” Judy sighed. “Can I talk to Jay?”
“Sure.”
Judy heard Ren yell for Jay. When he got to the phone she heard the muffled sounds of voices and the shuffle of the phone.
“Hi Mom,” he said breathlessly.
“Hi sweetie,” she said. “I probably won’t be home before you go to bed so mommy wanted to talk to you.”
“Awe,” Jay whined. “Can I stay up until you get home? ”
“You know you can’t. You have school tomorrow.”
Judy could hear sniffling on the other end.
“But mom,” he whimpered. “I can’t get to sleep without you.”
Ren was back on the phone.
“Give me a minute and I’ll speak to him,” he said.
When Jay returned to the phone he didn’t seem upset anymore. Judy spoke with him for a bit before his dad came back on the line.
“What did you say to change his mood?” Judy questioned.
“I told him he could have a sleep over in our room tonight. That way when you got home he would be close to you,” he answered.
Judy thanked him before hanging up.
Her dinner with Hope turned out to be lots of fun. They went to a new vegetarian restaurant that just opened on the south side of the city. Hope had informed Judy, when they were deciding where to dine, that she was now on a meatless diet. Her announcement wasn’t surprising, since she tended to make drastic changes in her life and spring it on Judy without any warning.
To Judy’s surprise the food was great and the atmosphere was relaxing. Hope’s company, as always, was enjoyable as well as entertaining. Besides altering her diet, it seemed she was also changing her choice in men. Judy laughed endlessly as she listened to her friend recount her latest dates. She had been seeing a succession of men lately, each one with very diverse personalities. It appeared that she liked variety as it added spice to her life. Unfortunately, spice wasn’t exactly what she got. Her dates consisted of men who were possessive, aggressive and regressive. Some, to her dislike, were sodomites, masochists, into ménage a trois and even married, not that she was aware of it at the time. Then there were the select few that enjoyed the golden shower treatment and cross-dressing. She did on occasion have what she considered normal outings with men, but then never heard from again. She was becoming discouraged and vowed to stop dating for now.
Judy was thankful she was married, after listening to her friend point out the pitfalls of dating. It sounded like it had become too weird and possibly a bit dangerous for her liking.
“I liked your ice cream man,” Judy paused. “Too bad he went to jail.”
Hope dated Ted, who owned a variety store/ice cream shop. She stopped by one day for an ice cream and it was love at first sight, or so she thought until Ted was arrested for running a drug operation from his store. Hope ended the romance against Ted’s wishes.
“See, I’m a loser magnet,” Hope whined.
“No you’re not.”
“Well it sure feels that way.”
“You’re just hitting a rough patch right now, but one day you’ll find someone,” Judy assured.
Hope sighed. “I hope so.”
Hope didn’t want to discuss her dating woes anymore, so she turned the conversation over to Judy’s
new job. Judy told her about the difficulties she encountered taking pictures of children, the unruly parents and the ridiculous corporate policies. She also expressed her concerns about Marta.
“Why are you working there?” Hope asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You are impossible!” she exclaimed. “You know you’ll end up quitting, you always do.”
“We need the money,” she replied quietly.
Hope stopped to take a nip of her drink. Once she felt the effects of the alcohol calming her exasperated nerves, she continued.
“You know when you get intuitions about someone it’s usually for a good reason. My advice is quit before it’s too late.”
Judy felt flustered. A part of her wanted to quit yet the mounting bills made her stay.