Greek Spunky Courageous Friend--Characters I Have Known

Short and pudgy, with graying hair and glasses, she always wore a dress with sensible shoes. Her name was Selena. A plain looking person, the kind who would easily disappears in a crowd. But to me she always stood out at work. For one thing, she arrived early, like I did, a rarity at my job with the city call center. And secondly she had a deep accent. I was embarrassed to ask what it was, but I would come to find out that few people knew.





Even citizen callers would ask to, "...speak to an American!" which, of course made Selena furious. Most of our callers in the early 1990's were white, older, and unfazed by insulting anyone that didn't sound like they were all white and all American. Their beloved Seattle had grown up and away before their eyes, for some reason the city call center for utility problems took much of their rage. In fact, many callers were calling in a rage to begin with---after all, they had some problem that they were certain we had caused. I had been called every name in the sailor's handbook, but attacking a person's ethnic identity was going too far. Hard to believe in the 1990's, but people still were refusing to talk with our African American employees and our women. "Let me speak to a MAN." Seems funny now.





So, Selena was not one to just transfer those callers away,no, she would give them a talking to! I loved it. I loved sitting near enough to hear her calls. "I am NOT Spanish!" she would shout. Finally I got up the courage to display my horrid American ignorance and ask what she WAS.





Selena was Greek. She came to America in her late teens and worked her way into college. She sent money home often, a practice she continued until all her Greek relatives had died in the last few years. Her sister joined her, married a man of means, they had two children, got divorced, Selena adored her niece and nephew, but Selena never married.





One day, when Selena was working as a bank teller, a wealthy man told her that she should get into the stock market. Oh, no, Selena replied, since she knew nothing about such things. He insisted, telling her how to buy 5 shares of a stock. Well, she did, and lost every penny. The man returned and told her to try again. Oh, no, said frugal Selena, but he insisted, even offering to give her the money to but the shares. Selena refused his money, but she gave in and bought the stocks. She made a little money. So, when Selena started telling me to buy stocks, I said, "Oh, no, I don't know enough about it." (Which is a touchy subject with me, since my brothers were given "the talk" from my rich uncle, but not a talk for a girl like me. THOUGH, being a girl like me, I listened around hallway corners as best I could. At age 8, it was not enough for me to understand more than the fact that IBM dividends were what some people lived off of and a poor man works for money while a rich man has his money work for him.)





My stupidity didn't bother Selena, she whipped out her bank teller story and brought up stocks every work day. I pointed out that she still drove an older model car, still had to work overtime, still ate at McDonalds. "It takes TIME," she would tell me in that Greek accent I learned to love.





A brokerage firm happened to be across the street. Almost every day she wandered over there on her breaks. It was right next to my bus stop. I would look in the windows--boring. Then, I would lean AGAINST the window. Then I went inside. Old men were sitting on fold-up chairs, their eyes glued to the ceiling that had a row of lights, constantly moving around with letters and numbers. They looked like pathetic, lonely, old men with nothing better to do. A few would be reading a folded newspaper and bobbing their heads up and down while penciling on the page. INSANE.





"Buy some of this company," Selena said. "I've never heard of it," I replied. She got that disgusted tone to her voice, "Look! It is on your computer!" We had just gotten new computers at our job and I was focused on the screens I used to correct billing problems, but sure enough, there it was: Microsoft. "What do they do?" I asked. Again, Selena sighed, it doesn't matter! They are on every computer. Do you think computers are going away!?" That made sense. But $30 for ONE share? I had been buying U.S. savings bonds for years...I'd have to cash them in...seemed awfully risky to me. Selena persisted.





"Diane. Buy some of this stock. It is just starting a company." Again, I had never heard of it. Starbuck's. Oh, yes, I had a memory of going into a cramped store near the Pike Place Market...it sold coffee. But, stock in them? That little store? I gave in and walked into the brokerage firm. I bought 100 shares of Microsoft. It had skyrocketed to almost $100 and Selena was CERTAIN it would go much higher. Two weeks later I was diagnosed with MS and then a large tumor in my uterus. OH NO. I had bought the stocks, using much of my savings (my savings bonds), in my name only, not my partners. I had to sell before I was unable to get to the brokerage firm.

That bus ride downtown was excruciating, each bump made me cringe in pain and hold my stomach. I kept thinking what a fool I'd been.

About two years later, a hysterectomy, a benign fibroid tumor removed and my partner's hysterectomy for severe endometriosis, MS letting me get by with just the occasional cane, Selena told me Starbuck's was "going IPO." I would learn by reading on line, that meant initial price offering of a company's stock. STARBUCK'S?? That cramped coffee shop down by Pike Place Market? Come on, Selena. She told me it would be huge and everyone would want it.
Seeing "Microsoft Hits $100 a Share" on the front page of our Seattle Times, did give me pause. If only I could have kept it...my partner was not doing well, her hysterectomy seemed to make matters worse. I decided it was time to buy a condo that would serve as our last home. I didn't see how she could keep working much longer. I put money down on a new two story condo. Then I went blind.

With the help of a friend, I swiftly got out of the condo deal and into a contract for a smaller one with no stairs and a large "handicapped" bathroom. But Selena, as much as she agreed real estate was important, thought I should get Starbuck's instead. I was at a financial crossroads. My goal was our financial security. I had a sum of money, all my savings bonds---I chose the condo.

Starbuck's went through the roof, as did Microsoft, splitting and splitting and splitting---my eyesight returned, my partner was getting stronger, I had made the wrong choice.

I say I don't believe in stress, but being the president of that condo board was as close as I've come to being a believer. Our condo sold in 24hrs. We made a few thousand dollars profit. I bought stocks again.

Selena went on her lunch breaks and bought more Microsoft, sometimes just 10 shares. I tried to tell her she was losing money on commissions, but she disagreed and insisted I but more. I told her I had no more money, she told me to take out a loan! What! She did it and paid it back, she told me. Now, Selena knew very, VERY little about the actual stock market---a big laugher for us both. We had been told at our jobs to "explore and play" on our computers, in the hopes we would feel more comfortable with them. Selena and I toggled back and forth to watch every stock tick, all day long. Up, up, up; split split split. I should have taken out those loans.

One day she suggested another new company, it would sell books off the computer. Oh, now GIMME A BREAK--that will NEVER fly! Amazon.com, and I missed it again. But, not Selena.

Needless to say, Selena became a Seattle millionaire, one of many ordinary people who did, during those years. I was so happy for her. This was a woman who TIPPED at McDonald's, bought extra burgers to give to panhandlers standing outside, baked hundreds of Greek pastries for her church and the needy. She eventually bought a new house, but not a new car. Her old clothes were just fine, but she paid off her mother's house in Greece. She retired a happy woman. I missed her dearly at work, It was never the same.

Many Seattle new, young, millionaires blew their money, but not Selena. She kept that old car until just the last few years. She still wears the coat she had decades ago and no one would ever suspect her means. Oh, and she still tells me to buy stocks. She still bakes those many pastries and buys nuts for the squirrels in her yard. She is a real American success story about hard work, determination, positive attitude and generosity. I learned so many lessons from her.