tuesday, january 29, 1980
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daily nebraskan
page 9
i
True confessions of a used and abused Kelsy girl
By Peg Shield rick
The following is an excerpt from the
forthcoming expose "The Story of K
Confessions of a Kelsy Girl," a gritty first
hand account of one of America's most
notorious temporary employment rackets.
You've heard of Kelsy. The one to call
when your secretary's out of town, your
receptionist gets the flu, the typing pool
runs dry. . .Anytime you need something a
little-out of the ordinary. Yeah, you've
heard of Kelsy. You call the number, tell
them what you need, and they send some
one. Someone you know you'll never see
again. So you ask them to do things. . .
things you know no one else would do for
you.
You probably never wondered where
those 4tsomeones" come from. Just another
pair of hands to type to you. Never mind
what they used to do before they came to
you. Never mind what they do when they
leave you. Yeah, that's Kelsy. I should
know. It wasn't that . long ago I was a
Kelsy Girl myself.
That's all behind me now, but I'll never
forget the first day 1 walked into that
office, a scared little rabbit with a steno
book in my hand and a lot to learn about
life in the office.
Found myself
I found myself seated in a dingy little
cubbyhole, fidgeting nervously while the
personnel manager walked around my chair
and looked me up and down.
"You ever done this kind of thing be
fore?' he rasped, puffing contemptuously
on an old cigar butt.
"No-I mean yes-well, sort of. .-. I
mean , when I was a child we used to play
'secretary V
"This ain't no kid's game. Everybody's
done that. I'm talking the real thing."
"Well, no 1 guess not ."
"Oh, a nice girl. Just what 1 needed. 1
suppose you expected you'd get a perman
ent position first, right?"
Well, yes." .
"Yeah, yeah, settle into some vine
covered office building .with Mr. Right 1
Well it ain't gonna happen, sis, so get that
straight right now." He chomped angrily
on his cigar. 4
"You work for me, you're gonna be
doin it for a lotta bosses. From now on,
you're public property. You've made your
desk and now you'll have to sit in it, heh,
heh, heh. Lissen, you been out there. You
know the score. You've tried the job mar
ket. Otherwise you wouldn't be here in this
Dance instructor improvises
By Penelope Smith
For eight weeks Centennial College's
new artist-in-residence, Irene Wachtel, is
helping her students improve their move
ment and the way they . approach it in
their environment.
Wachtel, along with her friend Mar
gaurite Fir.hman, is co-founder of Dancers
For Passersby, a company which has
appeared in various spots throughout
Lincoln performing works choreographed
for different environments.
Wachtel also has taught classes at First
Plymouth Church, in Lincoln, which
Wachtel called "very supportive of the
arts."
Wachtel was originally from Alsace,
France and came to the United States
after graduating from high school.
Wachtel became interested in dance
through a class at Middlebury College
in Vermont but she said there wa? no
strong dance program at Middlebury.
No background
"It was really good for me to be in a
school without a dance program." I really
got to do a lot for somebody who had no
background, because nobody else knew
what they were doing either."
Wachtel decided dance was the career
she wanted to pursue. She did her master's
degree work in modern dance at Ohio
State University. While there she studied
a technique which was to have a profound
effect on her teaching and choreography.
"The Alexander technique has a lot to
do with your posture, but actually posture
isn't the most important part. It has to do
with the quality of your movement.
Basically it will improve your efficiency
in any activity you do so that you have the
joint, am I right, girlie? Heh heh heh.
All too true
1 felt my face redden. It was humili
atingbut all too true. With nothing to
offer but a summa cum laude degree in
history and music theory, I knew that no
decent office would hire me. He had me
pegged, alright.
He could tell he had hit home. His tough
was vicious, cruel.
"Now that we got the charades out of
the way, let's get down to brass tacks.
What about experience? I mean the real
thing."
"Well, I guess 1 started in high school. .
school. . .'
"Tell me about it.'
I could feel the blush on my cheeks.
"There -there were these boys-on the
football team-do I really have to tell you
this?"
"Everything. Otherwise 1 won't know
where to -place you. Heh heh heh."
"Well, they-thcy had an English assign
ment due and-and-wcll, they asked me
to-do it for them. What could I say? 1 was
a lonely, desperate kid. I didn't know any
better. . .1 said yes."
"And I suppose they wanted footnotes,
too."
"Y-ycs. But how did you know?
"Heh heh heh. They always do . Heh
heh heh.
It was a long time before I could go on.
"Uh, after that, of course, my
reputation was shot. The boys were always
asking me after that bibliographies, essays,
even note cards. It got so I could hardly
walk through the halls. It was a night-
mare.
...
Everything told
Soon I found myseil tc'flmg about every
thing the filing, the envelope stuffing I did
in college in exchange for good grades and
access to the faculty rest room. . .and even
about that one professor who was into
research. By the time I reached the end of
my narrative I was in tears. The manager
was not impressed.
"Dry up, kid. Think you're, the only
t m to ever gave service to get along?
Gee., I heard stories that make you sound
like Mary Tyler Moore.'
And that's ' how it began -the whole
squalid mess. I was just a kid then, trying
to play it fast and loose. 1 had no idea then
where it would lead-endless parade of
filing cabinets, the coffee pots to fill, and
those wretched, humiliating statistical
jobs. . .1 had no idea what 1 was getting
myself into.
right amount of tension for the activity." '
Laban's philosophy
The other noticeable influence on Wach
tel's teaching and choreography is a written
one. She is deeply interested in the
philosophy ' of the early 20th century
theoretician Rudolf Laban. f.
Laban formulated a philosophy of
movement and , analyzing movement in
terms of intensity, speed, and direction in
three-dimensional space. - - ,:.
Wachtel said Laban's work has a very
positive influence on her. -ry-.---
"It opens up my mind. I don't get stuck
in the way I do things."
Wachtel said she lets the environment
influence her in what she does. Her '
students, some of whom are professors,
are taught this approach in small classes
because, she said she likes to watch every
body. . .
In a room that resembles a living room
because studios sometimes are a "sterile
environment," Wachtel helps her studentss
gain a new awareness of their space
through their performance of improvisa
tions done to percussion and string in
struments. Penitentiary classes
As part of her contract Wachtel also
teaches three days a week at the State
Penal Complex to a volunteer class that is
a bit different from her regular classes.
"They (regular students) are open to me
and not very inhibited. At the penitentiary
I must be more structured because.they are
very inhibited." Wachtel said. "1 have to be
very specific in improvisation.
Wachtel said since she started teaching
at the penitentiary she has - noticed
improvement in her students and a les
sening of their inhibitions.
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HELPFUL HINTS
Approaching Your First Employer:
PAY-POSITION:
Demand a management position. Insist on a
starting salary between $13,300 and $14,500
with guaranteed increases to $19,500-521,500 in
four years.
VACATION
Insist on 30 days paid vacation each year.
RETIREMENT:
Demand a contract providing for retirement
within 20 years at 50 of full pay.
MEDICAL CARE:
Require free medical care for yourself "and your
entire family.
TRAVEL:
.Insist on world-wide travel opportunity with
moves paid for by the company.
THESE TIPS PROVIDED BY AIR FORCE ROTC
IF YOUR EMPLOYER CANT MEET THESE
DEMANDS, WE CAN!
Lt. Col. Tom Skinner
Rm. 203 M & N Bldj.
472-2473
Why Go It Alone
When there's
Professional Organization
for Business Majors
for information on the upcoming rush
contact: Mary Halsey. 474-0475
Mark Johnson 466-7554
1 he Gbss Onion
Natural Food Restaurant
235 N. 11th
Phone 475-3355
Every Mon. & Tues. 5-9 pm
HALF PRICE ON
ENTIRE MENU
(except beverages)
TO ALL STUDENTS
With Student I.D.
Close to Campus at 11th and "Q
IV
Brides-To-Be
Dontforget
TONIGHT
is the
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99
Lips for Lovers
plus
Cards Ct Gifts for your
Sweetheart on V-datj
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II Gunny's o 13th G Qo474-OG34
Cottwoy to o great woy of Me.
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