Tales of the Singing Proofreader

I accepted Jeanne singing at her desk.

That was the trade-off we negotiated: I listened to Howard Stern in the morning. After lunch, Jeanne would turn on the soft jazz station. Oftentimes, that led her to “feel a vibe” and begin singing along with the music.

When I took the position as a proofreader for a software company in Manhattan, I’d been unemployed for nearly a year. I was happy to have a simple commute on the Long Island Rail Road, as well as an office, even if it was shared with a mid-50s woman who wore odd perfumes.

Jeanne started for the company less than a year before I did. The way a coworker described the process, the VP of Corporate Communications was given an end-of-year budget spreadsheet. Astonished to learn she had vacant positions, she quickly hired two proofreaders before she lost their headcount.

The Director of the group returned from her vacation to discover a pair of new employees (Jeanne and a former UN worker named Dave) reporting to her that she had never met, interviewed, nor agreed to hire.

The VP left shortly afterward for a new job. Coincidentally, so did one of the senior editors. New hire Dave quickly received a promotion to that position. The Director was then tasked to find a replacement proofreader, which was the spot where I landed.