Beau Finally Finds Job

Beau Finally finds a Job (Season 1, Episode 3 of Beau and Cherie)

Hot Springs Village People

Good news, Beau finally found a job.  After being fired from his job at the local drug store, Beau became very discouraged and depressed.  He spent a lot of time laying around the house chatting with people on the internet and playing video games.

  He had sneaked into a Facebook Group called, “Hot Springs Village People.”  He can’t quite remember where he heard of it, but he had always been interested in retiring to Hot Springs Village.  There were three questions Beau had to answer in order to enter the Facebook Group and he lied on the question which asked if he lived in the Village.  He rationalized this in his mind as only being a little fib.  After all, he did plan on retiring there one day.  First, though, he thought he might have to find a job to retire from.  “Details, details,” he muttered out loud.  “It will all work out.” 

Beau networks

There was a great group of people in this Facebook Group and Beau spent hours chatting with them every day.  He called it “networking”.  He had heard that the HSV POA was interested in networking and thought, “heck, if they can do it, I can too.” The group had a moderator who went by the name of Cheryl. “She really didn’t seem too bright. She hasn’t caught on that I don’t really live in Hot Springs Village,” Beau chuckled to himself. Many folks in the Group seemed to be disgruntled with their government and Beau was fascinated with the Village goings on.

Even though Beau kept himself entertained between Facebook, video games and television, Beau was starting to feel a little depressed. The more time Beau spent hanging around the house, the less he felt like looking for a job or even leaving the house.  With Beau’s self-defeating and unmotivated attitude overtaking their homelife, Beau’s wife, Cherie, realized she was going to have to take charge of this situation.

Job opening

At the office, Cherie had a coworker named Amy. Amy was looking to hire a new babysitter.  She had four preschool children.  Amy’s family line ran to twins and triplets and while Amy had not borne any triplets, she had given birth to two sets of identical twins. Amy’s family consisted of her husband Ralph, her mother-in-law, Gertie, two 2-year old twins, Donny and Danny and Allie and Annie, identical 3-year-old twins. 

Amy and her husband were struggling to make ends meet, which necessitated that both parents work.  Amy, in order to go to work every day, needed a daycare provider to come to her home.  Right now, her live-in-mother-in-law, Gertie, was carrying this burden.   It was quickly becoming too overwhelming and difficult for Gertie.  Furthermore, Gertie wanted to hang out with people her own age and lunch with her lady friends, play cards and just chill. 

Job satisfaction

Gertie had earned this right after a long career as a cook and server at the Blue Moon Diner and then after retiring, taking on the household responsibilities in her son’s home.  At first, these responsibilities did not interfere with her social life.  This was before the birth of the children.  Gertie was a high energy person and very organized, so she could whip through the housework and laundry at breakneck speed and be dressed in her heels and red hat, not a chip in her nail polish by 11:30 every day in order to lunch with her group of friends.

Job dissatisfaction

After the birth of Allie and Annie, Gertie’s social life became much more difficult to keep up with, but she managed.  Just.  She hauled the two babies around with her in their double stroller and they became a very loved part of the “ladies’ group”.  There were a couple of rough times, when Gertie forgot to bring the diapers or the time Allie became ill and threw up all over the restaurant high chair, but Gertie persevered in continuing her social life. 

Impossible social situation

Unbeknownst to Gertie, after the projectile vomiting incident, some of the other ladies were starting to become annoyed.  As Allie and Annie approached the “terrible two’s” and the birth of their twin brothers, Donny and Danny occurred, Gertie’s social life went to hell in a handbasket.  It was impossible to lug around a couple of two-year-olds and two newborn children. 

Gertie was a champ and stayed home and took care of her four grandchildren and her son’s house, the best she could.  After a while, this became a heavy burden and Gertie tired of the task and longed for the “old” days where she lunched carefree with her group of friends.  Gertie put in her notice to quit her “job”.

Gertie’s decision put Amy and Ralph into a tailspin and so they started networking in an attempt to hire someone to come into their home to care for the children during the day while they eeked out a living.  Those diapers and toys were not cheap.

Cherie finds a job for Beau

Cherie overheard Amy one morning in the breakroom at work as Amy was talking to her friend Valerie.

“Do you know of anyone that would be interested in a full-time babysitting and housekeeping job?  They would need to come to my house to take care of our four children.  They are very well-behaved and it wouldn’t be much work.  I can’t afford to pay much,” Amy asks as she stirs her coffee.

Valerie, had a puzzled look on her face as she answered Amy, “No, I don’t know of anyone looking for that kind of work.”  Valerie had met the four children in question and knew that while the children were mostly sweet-natured when they weren’t throwing tantrums, they were quite a handful.  Someone always needed their diaper changed or nose wiped.  Turn your back on them for one minute and the results could be disastrous.  So no, Valerie was not going to foist this supposed “job opportunity” on one of her unknowing and innocent friends.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

As Cherie was not familiar with Amy’s family, she immediately thought of her husband, Beau.  Cherie was desperate to get him up, dressed, out of the house and gainfully employed.  As he didn’t seem to be having any luck in his job search and their savings account was quickly approaching the zero mark, Cherie chimed in.

“My husband, Beau, is looking for a job and he is wonderful with children.  He is a high-energy and self-motivated type person”, Cherie lied.  “Would you consider hiring a man?  Beau keeps our house in wonderful condition”, Cherie further elaborated her falsehood.

Amy pondered this idea for a minute but knew deep down that she had to hurry and find a sitter as her mother-in-law was becoming more and more unhappy every day.  Gertie loved the children, but enough was enough.  Amy didn’t really like this, but she tried to sympathize. 

Amy, a little unsure of Cherie and her husband, hesitantly said, “Well, I dunno…”

Cherie sets up job interview for Beau

Cherie, not one to let an opportunity escape, said, “Why don’t I send Beau over after work today so you can meet him.  I am sure he would be a perfect fit as a housekeeper.”

Amy said, “Well, okay.  I guess.”  Amy knew she would need to have Ralph and Gertie take the children to McDonalds for dinner as she wanted to present her household in the best possible light.  It wouldn’t do to have four rambunctious and rowdy children running around.

Beau receives call

Cherie telephoned Beau on her lunch break, in between her dry cleaning errand and running to the post office. 

Beau sleepily answered the phone, “hello”, he mumbled.

“Beau, this is Cherie.  Are you awake?  Jump in the shower.  I found a job for you and you need to be presentable for an interview.  Be sure to shave and clip your fingernails.  You want to make a good impression.”

Beau didn’t like this sound of this, but he knew better than to voice any disagreement with the idea.  With any luck, they would not hire him.  He wondered if it was an executive position and if it was in the drugstore field, like his last job. Beau’s last job was not really an executive job, but he liked to think of it that way because when his boss, Mr. Harrison was on vacation, Beau took over the day-to-day management of the store.

“What is the name of the company?  What is the position I am interviewing for?”  Beau inquired. 

Cherie knew she needed to put a little spin on this so she cheerfully chirped, “It is an executive position as head of housekeeping for a very nice family.  I told them what a take-charge and self-motivated person you are, and they seem very interested in interviewing you.”

Beau was a little unsure of this “executive position”, as he was not well-versed in the housekeeping field, but of course, he could not buck his wife.  Maybe this opportunity would work out.  It might be worth a try.

“Okay,” said Beau as he flipped on the television with the remote control.

Beau gets ready for job interview

Later that day, the stove timer loudly buzzed, jolting Beau out of the recliner. Beau set this timer every day to remind himself Cherie would be coming home soon. Beau remembered that he was supposed to be going on a job interview after Cherie came home from work.  He hastily shaved and jumped in the shower.  He was tying his tie as Cherie came home and entered the bedroom.

“Oh Beau!  You look wonderful”, she said in her most encouraging voice even though she could see he missed a few places when he shaved.

Beau arrives for job interview

Beau pulled into Amy and Ralph’s driveway, his wheels barely missing a deep pothole in front of the house.  That reminded him of the “Hot Springs Village People” Group. They complained about potholes and deferred infrastructure maintenance debt. Beau certainly hoped his city was not operating under these same conditions.

Beau noticed a van being hastily loaded with what appeared to be four youngish children.  He did not know much about kids, but he thought they looked to be a couple of 2-year-old girls and a couple of 1-year-old boys.  Whatever ages they were, the boys were fighting over an action figure toy of some sort, tugging it back and forth.  Both of the girls looked like they had been rushed into their coats and shoes, as both of them had on shoes that didn’t match and their jackets were unzipped.  Furthermore, the girls also wore the remnants of bright red lipstick smeared around their mouths.

Beau thought, “I hope these children don’t come to visit often when I am working here, supervising the other employees.”  Beau was a little on the slow side and did not consider the old age and smallish size of the home.  He was too busy thinking of his next gaming session and the favorite television show he planned on watching when he returned home from the interview.

The van hastily pulled out of the driveway, running over the curb.  Loud noises from hungry and irate children were emanating from the thin van walls. 

Beau meets Amy

Beau, slowly exited his rusty truck and sauntered up to the front door, barely noticing the mud puddle he stepped in.  As Beau’s finger reached for the doorbell, the front door was hastily jerked open by a tiny lady holding a child’s headless doll in one hand and a ragged dish towel in the other.  Amy took one look at Beau and said, to herself, “unless he is Jack the Ripper, he will do.”

“Come in, come in,”  Amy invited. 

“You must be Beau, Cherie’s husband.  I have heard so many good things about you.” 

Beau, putting on his best professional face, replied, “And you must be Amy.  So pleased to make your acquaintance.  I am here about the executive housekeeping job.”

Amy wondered what Beau meant with his last statement, but she was too polite to ask. He must be making a joke.

Amy showed Beau around the house.  “They certainly looked like they needed a housekeeper”, Beau thought to himself.  He supposed he would oversee hiring the staff as it looks like no one had done any cleaning in quite a while.  He would need to supervise the laundry person, the housekeeping person, the cook.  It would be quite a task to oversee all this, but he thought he might be able to squeeze in some gaming time. 

“Hey, things were looking up,” he cheerfully thought. The children that had just left in the van had left a lot of their toys scattered around.  Hopefully, this wouldn’t be something Beau would have to deal with on an ongoing basis, he thought as he felt and heard something hard crunch under his foot.  He looked down to see a half-eaten candy cane, now crushed into the matted carpet.

Job interview

As Amy gave Beau the tour, she attempted to interview him.  Because she didn’t know what questions to ask, as she had never been in the position to hire someone before, she ad-libbed.  “We need someone to help us out in the house and Cherie told us you were looking for employment,” Amy said.

Beau said, “Yes, the economy is sluggish right now and I have not been able to find satisfactory work.  I am looking for a position where I can take-charge and make a difference.”

This response sounded very good to Amy, as she kicked a ball out of the doorway and hastily closed the children’s’ bedroom door.  She didn’t want to scare Beau off with that disaster area.

As Amy and Beau made their way back into the living room, she pushed a pile of clean towels off the sofa in order to make a space for her and Beau to sit.  “Have a seat,” Amy invited.

Beau and Amy took a liking to each other and realized they had many things in common.  They both loved video games and the same television shows, “Chips” being one.  Erik Estrada starred in that program and it reminded him of the old Hot Springs Village Commercials.  “Those were the best commercials,” Beau thought.

Job offer

Amy hastily looked up as the grandfather clock chimed 7:00 PM.  She stood up and said, “Beau, if you want the job it is yours.”  Amy knew her chaotic family would soon be returning as she ushered Beau out of the house, hoping she didn’t appear to be rushing him.

Beau, becoming aware of the time, also realized he needed to hurry home in order to set himself up with his favorite Kroger corn chips and dip, conveniently arranged by his easy chair in order to catch the latest rerun of “Chips” before immersing himself in his favorite video game.  “Ah, life was good,” Beau smiled and thought.

Amy thought, “what a pleasant man.   He is smiling at me.  This is really going to work out and I am so glad Cherie recommend Beau as a babysitter.”

As Amy walked Beau to the door, she told him he could start the job next Monday.  Beau agreed and driving home wondered if Cherie had time to do the shopping after work today.  He was out of his favorite, “Kroger Corn Chips”. 

Home from the job interview

As Beau pushed open the front door, he saw that his wonderful wife, Cherie had already set him up for the evening.  His remote was on the end table and a nice tall glass of decaf sweet tea sat on a coaster, his favorite corn chips and dip lovingly arranged on one arm of his chair, and his favorite cat, Bernadine, lazily perched on the other. 

Life is good, chips and all

As Beau sat down in his favorite recliner he pushed off his mud-crusted loafers and grabbed a corn chip and popped it into his mouth.  He was home just in time to watch “Chips”.  Beau thought about just how fortunate he was. True, he had experienced a streak of bad luck, putting his back out of place, losing his job, gaining a little weight due to stress but he knew now that things were about to change for him and Cherie.

“Cherie, I want to tell you about my interview,” Beau said.

Everything was looking up, he thought as he smiled in a smug and self-satisfied way at his wife. He had a wonderful wife, five beautiful cats, he would soon be starting his new job as an Executive Housekeeper” and his favorite show “Chips”, was due to start in a half hour or so. Life was good and he knew for certain that nothing could go wrong,” he thought. as one of their cats jumped up on the end table, overturning his ice tea.

Written by Cheryl Dowden

Frozen – Cherie Faces the Cold, Frozen Morning 
(Season 1, Episode 1 of Beau and Cherie)

When the Chips Were Down (Season 1, Episode 2 of Beau and Cherie)