Memoir | Breaking Through Protocol | Part VI of VI

An urgent email was distributed to office secretaries from the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Prominence requesting that all his key staff come to the Press Room in our building for an urgent press briefing regarding his formal statement for the local and cable news outlets. I had to move quickly to ensure our bureau’s incoming assistant secretary was present at the Secretary’s press briefing. This meant I had to interrupt her swearing-in ceremony, which wasn’t an easy task. As expected, I faced resistance from her advisor.

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At that specific time, our incoming Assistant Secretary (A/S) Mrs. Hadid was attending her swearing-in ceremony with dignitaries, guests, family, colleagues, foreign and U.S. government officials, and her bureau’s staff. The location of that ceremony was on the 8th floor in the most palatial and modern space for official ceremonies called The Jack Quick Room.

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Before the office staff flocked out the door to A/S Hadid’s swearing-in ceremony, I suggested to Olivia, the new office secretary Hadid, to stay and monitor her incoming telephone calls since Ms. Hadid would be in close communications with the Department’s Secretary, foreign and domestic government officials during her transition into her politically appointed position. Olivia did not take my advice and attended the ceremony.

After Olivia declined my recommendation, I asked her to transfer her desk’s telephone lines to my desk telephone so I could monitor her principal, Hadid’s, incoming telephone calls.

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I was the only person left in the office. I was sitting at my desk, sipping Coca-Cola, and reading emails.

Experiences taught me always to be ready on the job for the unexpected, which meant dressing professionally. I had on my flat ballerina shoes, my skirt’s suit jacket was dangling off the back of my chair, my blouse’s bowtie was untied, and the soft sounds of classical music were filling the air from my computer.

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An incoming telephone call came across Olivia’s telephone line to my desk. It was the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Prominence.

Yikes!

I listened attentively and took notes while he was talking. It was a command that all the Secretary of Prominence’s principals and incoming principals attend the Secretary’s impromptu press briefing immediately.

I informed the Deputy Secretary that my principal was at her swearing-in ceremony in the Jack Quick Room.

He said, “Assistant Secretary Hadid must attend this press briefing so go get her.”

I reassured the Deputy Secretary that I would pull Mrs. Hadid from the ceremony, and she would be there as soon as possible.

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Again, you will never know where your job will send you, so dressing professionally makes a good first impression and it promotes respect from others.

My downtime was over! I kicked off the ballerina flat shoes and slipped on my pointed-toe high-heeled black suede pumps, tied up my blouse’s bowtie, and put on my skirt’s suit jacket.

I grabbed a steno pad and an ink pen.

I sipped my Coca-Cola soda and made a mad dash out the door.

My high heels made a click-clack sound on the marble corridor floors as I raced towards the elevators to get to the 1st-floor.

The 1st floor at the main entrance of the building is where the elevators are that we use to take us to the 8th floor. All the other elevators in the building only go to the 7th floor. These elevators would take me to the 8th floor, to The Jack Quick Room.

My office was located on the 5th floor. The elevators took too long to arrive; so, I charged the stairwell and walked down the 5 flights of steps to the 1st floor.

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The 1st floor was bustling with security staff, news reporters with cameras, tourists, and employees. I walked swiftly toward the 8th-floor elevators. In the distance there was a good-looking government official yelling my name!

He was Senator Sadoski, a Republican: “Mia Edwards! How are you?”

Mr. Sadoski was once my bureau’s assistant secretary at the Department of Prominence. He is now a U.S. Senator for Alaska. I had to stop and talk with him briefly. He was the person who allowed me to plan the Black and White Office Party for his staff.

Once he got close to me, he held out his hand to shake mine. I shook his hand.

Mr. Sadoski was attending Mrs. Hadid’s swearing-in ceremony. She worked on Sadoski’s staff on Capitol Hill as his legal advisor. She is a lawyer. I told him what was happening and that I needed to get an urgent message to Hadid. He encouraged me to move quickly. We bid each other farewell.

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Finally, I made it to the 8th-floor elevators! There were two elevators, and one was broken. The other elevator was taking forever to arrive, too! I walked up eight flights of steps to get to The Jack Quick Room. I was out of breath and beads of sweat were dripping along my forehead. I thought, “Mia, you need to exercise more and stop drinking all that caffeine.”

I was inside the palatial Jack Quick Room!

The room was filled with people.

I scanned the room and targeted Mrs. Hadid’s special advisor, John. I gave him the message.

He was defiant towards me and acted like he did not want to disturb Assistant Secretary Hadid. He peppered me with questions. I wanted to slap him upside his head at that point.

Really, what more could I say? The Secretary of Prominence at the Department of Prominence wanted A/S Hadid at that press briefing, so why would I lie about it?

He was wasting time asking me a million questions.

I noticed that Mrs. Hadid was looking at me while her special advisor and I were talking.

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Author’s Note:

I often dropped by my mother’s home and spoke with her about the racism I encountered.

As a light-skinned African American woman, we are always questioned and doubted. You would not believe that my work was always questioned by this special advisor, senior advisors, special assistants, and executive assistants who worked closely with the high-level principals. They never apologized when I was always correct!

But as soon as Karen dropped the ball on an important matter, she was never interrogated or reprimanded. The double standards were real.

I remember an incident when I shared some important and sensitive information with the high-level principal I was working with that day. I had received this information from another office secretary and thought it was part of my responsibility to relay it promptly. Unfortunately, I shared it before his senior advisor had the chance to do so. The advisor was furious, as he wanted the recognition for delivering the news to the principal. He lashed out at me, and I was taken aback by his harsh words. Overwhelmed, I retreated to the ladies’ room to compose myself. It struck me how the advisor, with his well-compensated role, esteemed position, and education, could be so upset with me, a young, inexperienced African American woman, for unintentionally upstaging him. It was a harsh lesson in office dynamics and the complexities of workplace hierarchies.

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Back to the Story:

In a moment of realization, I noticed that the special advisor was neglecting to inform Mrs. Hadid about her indispensable presence at the Secretary’s press briefing.

Without hesitation, I assumed responsibility and swiftly made my way to Mrs. Hadid, ensuring she was promptly notified of the urgent matter at hand!

At that very minute, John, the special advisor, approached the spot where I was engaging in a briefing with Mrs. Hadid, and she needed to attend the Secretary’s special announcement to the media immediately.

As he made his way towards us, Mrs. Hadid couldn’t help but roll her eyes in response to his presence. She was fully aware of the protocol and hierarchy within her office, and Mrs. Hadid couldn’t help but show a twinge of annoyance at John.

It was clear to her that John, as her special advisor, should have been the one responsible for relaying such crucial information, rather than leaving it to me, an office secretary.

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I could see Olivia, Mrs. Hadid’s incoming appointment scheduler, looking at me inquisitively. I thought, “You should have been at your desk to take this urgent message, not me.”

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Finally, Mrs. Hadid, I, and John walked quickly out of the Jack Quick Room towards the single elevator that never seemed to open. We decided to walk down the eight flights of steps!

At that point, I gave the steno pad and ink pen to Mrs. Hadid. She thanked me for the items.

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Once on the 1st floor, they walked towards the Press Room.

I walked in the opposite direction towards our building’s mini-market, and purchased another Coca-Cola soda

Adjacent to the mini-market, a sizable flat-screen TV was affixed to the wall in the hallway. CNN was broadcasting breaking news, featuring the Secretary of Prominence addressing the media from the Department’s press room. Flanked by his team, including the deputy secretary, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and Assistant Secretary Hadid, he stood at the podium to deliver his statement to the press.

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(Copyright © 2025 by Mia Z. Edwards. All rights reserved.)