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Gushing

5 September 2003

Sometimes I amaze myself just how quickly and copiously I can perspire when under stress. It is truely like there are spigots under my arms.

Yesterday I thought would be a quiet day at the office, one on which I would not sweat much, so I wore a pretty blue silk blouse and a wool skirt. As I sat at my desk and worked on various tasks I was proud I was sweating less than usual. Then, around 11 am, my boss pops in and asks me to come to the conference room. When I arrive, I see the division VP and company president are already present. Before I can even join them seated at the table, I feel my armpits grow stickier with sweat.

The rumor around the office has been that the company is about to land a huge contract, its biggest ever. As the president describes that this is indeed what has happened, I have my arms glued to my sides because I can feel a torrent of sweat pouring from my armpits. My boss has been hinting at a promotion for me, something I'd really, really like, and I'm wondering if that's why they called me to this meeting.

I learn that a small part of this huge contract will involve preparing a group of technical documents, "techdocs", which is where I come in (I'm a technical writer). The president scribbles some things on the white board, then asks me how I would handle the situation, and holds the marker out to me. OMG, I guess he wants me to get up and add some things to the whiteboard. As I stand, I feel my blouse sticking to my sides, cold from evaporating sweat.

I try to write on the board without lifting my arms, but it's just not possible. As I stand there, I can actually feel the sweat dripping, no, pouring, all the way down to my waistline. I don't dare look down to check the stains, but I can sense the VP looking back and forth at my underarms. After what seems like an eternity, I get to sit down again, and soon they dismiss me.

I ran to the bathroom to check myself. There were dark blue stripes of wetness at least 3 inches wide all the way from my armpits to my waist. They were painfully obvious on the blue silk. My arms were wet past my elbows and halfway to my wrists. It looked like someone had opened faucets under my arms. All this in just 30 minutes!

Linda, one of my co-workers, came into the bathroom and found me there, sobbing. I couldn't bring myself to explain exactly why, but instead said that I blew my chance at the promotion I wanted. She noticed my soaking blouse and asked if I had another to change into (I didn't). I stayed in the bathroom until lunch, and worked on cleaning up the "raccoon eyes" from my smudged makeup.

After lunch my boss calls me into his office, and says "You got it!" He saw my puzzled look. "They want you to be the techdoc manager for the project."

"Me?"

"Yes, your promotion is effective next week. Congratulations Janet!"

OMG, I got the promotion! I can't believe it! It's a big jump in salary and responsibilities, and a position on a very visible project. I'll be leading a team of 8 to prepare all the docs. My armpits began to gush anew, but this time I didn't care!

For prior stories, see the archives.