That’s what LIFt is about. You have children, of course, Suzy?
Suzy Coxswain:
Do I! Three boys, still holding out for that girl, haha.
Leora Infinitas:
Okay, so motherhood is a fundamental strength that we somehow twist into a fundamental conflict: Am I a woman first or a mother first? Well, my answer is
yes.
What comes first, home or work or the world outside my window? My answer is
yes.
How does being a mother influence my ethics? My answer is
yes.
How do I put my children first
and
put the children of the developing world first, too? My answer is
yes.
Suzy Coxswain:
Well, sure, but okay, playing devil’s advocate for a moment—your kids are
your
kids. They’re yours; they’re different, haha.
Leora Infinitas:
I don’t see them as so different. And I don’t see other women as so different from you and me, Suzy. I think if we come together we can be everybody’s mother. I know that sounds so presumptuous!
“Daisy,” Jen said without removing her earbuds.
“Hang on, I’ve been denounced as a Trotskyite,” Daisy said.
“I think you need to see this,” Jen said.
“Am I bothering you ladies?”
Jen turned in her seat to see Karina standing inches away, shrugging emphatically into a lightweight trench coat. “Karina, hi!” Jen exclaimed at a high pitch. She pawed at the buds in her ears, swatting them to the floor. As she reached over to pick them up, the wheels of her chair rolled over the cord, trapping the earbuds on the carpet. Jen paused for a second, doubled over, then hoisted her ass off the seat, pushed up at the bottom of the seat with her left hand until the wheels left the carpet, and grabbed the buds with her right hand. Jen moved to sit up again, but again the cord went taut before she was fully upright, this time because it had wound itself around the stem of the chair. Jen folded the buds in her lap and looked up at Karina from this slightly hunched position.
“How many kulaks do you think are left in that village, Comrade Daisy?” Karina was asking in the tone of a saucy conspirator, leaning jauntily against the stack of empty filing cabinets that loomed behind Jen’s desk.
Daisy looked over her shoulder, nodded at Karina, and turned back to her computer screen.
Karina winked at Jen and mouthed
Love her!,
rolling her eyes and lashing her tongue across her front teeth on
Love.
Jen wondered if Karina was being sarcastic or sincere, and also if Karina herself knew.
“Sorry for stalking you with all the emails!” Jen said. She hoped her temporary hunchback scanned as warm, inviting body language—a plant leaning toward light.
Karina cocked her head and clucked neutrally. “Hey, can’t knock persistence.”
“So, what I was thinking—” Jen started.
“All I can tell you is that we—the board, the staff, the whole team—we are in major brainstorm-and-research mode right now,” Karina said. “Lightning and thunder, fire and brimstone, category-five brainstorms. And research. And I’ve gotta say”—Karina pulled her bottom lip down from clenched teeth and looked sidelong with bugged-out eyes, as if she were being groped against her will—“Leora does
naahht
seem too happy with how we’ve been stormin’ her brain so far.”
“Oh, wow, okay, we can fix that,” Jen said, nodding rapidly, bugging out her eyes in mirroring solidarity. Karina looked over Jen’s stooped shoulder, and Jen wondered if Leora and Suzy were still bantering silently on the screen behind her. “Any specifics on what Leora isn’t happy with?” Jen asked, maneuvering her chair slightly with the aim of using her own bent head to block her computer screen from Karina’s view. “Does she want ideas about messaging for our programs, or messaging ideas for the website itself—should I prioritize one over the other?”
“I really don’t see why we need to
exclude,
” said Karina, her gaze still trained over Jen’s shoulder. “She just wants more ideas, more research. The more the
Suzy Coxswain:
Do I! Three boys, still holding out for that girl, haha.
Leora Infinitas:
Okay, so motherhood is a fundamental strength that we somehow twist into a fundamental conflict: Am I a woman first or a mother first? Well, my answer is
yes.
What comes first, home or work or the world outside my window? My answer is
yes.
How does being a mother influence my ethics? My answer is
yes.
How do I put my children first
and
put the children of the developing world first, too? My answer is
yes.
Suzy Coxswain:
Well, sure, but okay, playing devil’s advocate for a moment—your kids are
your
kids. They’re yours; they’re different, haha.
Leora Infinitas:
I don’t see them as so different. And I don’t see other women as so different from you and me, Suzy. I think if we come together we can be everybody’s mother. I know that sounds so presumptuous!
“Daisy,” Jen said without removing her earbuds.
“Hang on, I’ve been denounced as a Trotskyite,” Daisy said.
“I think you need to see this,” Jen said.
“Am I bothering you ladies?”
Jen turned in her seat to see Karina standing inches away, shrugging emphatically into a lightweight trench coat. “Karina, hi!” Jen exclaimed at a high pitch. She pawed at the buds in her ears, swatting them to the floor. As she reached over to pick them up, the wheels of her chair rolled over the cord, trapping the earbuds on the carpet. Jen paused for a second, doubled over, then hoisted her ass off the seat, pushed up at the bottom of the seat with her left hand until the wheels left the carpet, and grabbed the buds with her right hand. Jen moved to sit up again, but again the cord went taut before she was fully upright, this time because it had wound itself around the stem of the chair. Jen folded the buds in her lap and looked up at Karina from this slightly hunched position.
“How many kulaks do you think are left in that village, Comrade Daisy?” Karina was asking in the tone of a saucy conspirator, leaning jauntily against the stack of empty filing cabinets that loomed behind Jen’s desk.
Daisy looked over her shoulder, nodded at Karina, and turned back to her computer screen.
Karina winked at Jen and mouthed
Love her!,
rolling her eyes and lashing her tongue across her front teeth on
Love.
Jen wondered if Karina was being sarcastic or sincere, and also if Karina herself knew.
“Sorry for stalking you with all the emails!” Jen said. She hoped her temporary hunchback scanned as warm, inviting body language—a plant leaning toward light.
Karina cocked her head and clucked neutrally. “Hey, can’t knock persistence.”
“So, what I was thinking—” Jen started.
“All I can tell you is that we—the board, the staff, the whole team—we are in major brainstorm-and-research mode right now,” Karina said. “Lightning and thunder, fire and brimstone, category-five brainstorms. And research. And I’ve gotta say”—Karina pulled her bottom lip down from clenched teeth and looked sidelong with bugged-out eyes, as if she were being groped against her will—“Leora does
naahht
seem too happy with how we’ve been stormin’ her brain so far.”
“Oh, wow, okay, we can fix that,” Jen said, nodding rapidly, bugging out her eyes in mirroring solidarity. Karina looked over Jen’s stooped shoulder, and Jen wondered if Leora and Suzy were still bantering silently on the screen behind her. “Any specifics on what Leora isn’t happy with?” Jen asked, maneuvering her chair slightly with the aim of using her own bent head to block her computer screen from Karina’s view. “Does she want ideas about messaging for our programs, or messaging ideas for the website itself—should I prioritize one over the other?”
“I really don’t see why we need to
exclude,
” said Karina, her gaze still trained over Jen’s shoulder. “She just wants more ideas, more research. The more the
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