Administrative Professionals Day

was celebrated earlier this week.

We remember today one particular Assistant who was proficient in state-of-the-art word processing and thus a valuable asset to the CEO.

The CEO was under tremendous pressure, trying to stay at least one step ahead of the law (sometimes, they said, the way the CEO escaped the clutches of the authorities was a miracle).

The Assistant facilitated some of the CEO's most critical correspondence as well as supporting him (and sometimes the number two guy) on travels.

No mere cog in the great corporate machine, the Assistant aspired to write a book.

The book turned out to be a best seller: the first of a famous genre of very specialized biographies.

The Assistant eventually was promoted to head a major branch and would be well thought of by the people there.

In the end, however, the Assistant was probably caught in the same government sweep that finally destroyed the CEO, the number two, and many others.

The Feast of Saint Mark - assistant and traveling companion to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, author of the earliest Gospel, and Bishop of Alexandria - is celebrated on this day.

(adapted from an earlier post)