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older sister




Mary Winters



I’ve heard of some weird commune
��on the West side that doesn’t believe
children should be brought up
��by their parents: nothing is more
poison than the nuclear family.
��I admit I’ve had the same thought
myself from time to time
��and of course, once you’ve been raised
that way you re-create the dynamics
��of family life in all your
relationships including those at work.
��I am one of four rivalrous siblings
(the most successful partly
��because I am the oldest and therefore
had two years of nurturing no matter
��how wretchedly imperfect all to myself).
I understand that I always compete
��with my co-workers to be
best like by the boss; in fact
��that is all I ask of anyone.

It’s easy to spot other people’s
��hang-ups. My office mate is an
only child whose tiniest doing
��and utterance was doted on.
Which I refuse to do since I have
��redrawn my own boundaries.
Our secretary, on the other hand,
��did not get enough notice at home.
��I told her: grown ups wear their
own watches and carry their own keys.
��They have their own aspirin,
postage stamps and chewing gum.




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