Mother of three forces lawyer to hire her. “I'm not leaving without a job!”. A lesson from Erin Brockovich.

                Who wouldn't like to have a little bit of her determination and cheek.  Who doesn't admire the young mom who convinces her lawyer to hire her and then goes on to work on important civil cases against big companies?  This is the true story on which the film “Erin Brockovich,” by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven, Traffic) is based. 

                Erin is a single mom with three kids who desperately needs a job to finance her family.  “You have no actual medical training?” she is asked on a job interview, “No” she replies, “I have kids, I've learned a lot right there.  I've seen nurses take throat cultures from my son, how did they do it?  You stick a giant q-tip down their throat and wait.  Urinalysis?  You take that dipstick to see if the white count's high.”

                Her interviewer is embarrassed.  She continues, “I'm great with people, you'd have to observe me to know for sure, trust me on that.  I'm a fast learner, I've always wanted to go to medical school, that was my first interest, then I got married and I had a kid when I was too young and blew it.”

                So her search for a job doesn't work out... Erin doesn't give up!  She is able to convince her lawyer, Ed Masry (with whom she had lost a case about fractures incurred by a car accident), to hire her as a legal assistant. 

                “I don't need compassion, I need a paycheck.  I've looked, when you spend 6 years raising babies, it's hard to get a job that pays.  I'm smart and hard-working.  I am not leaving here without a job.  Don't make me beg, if it doesn't work out, fire me.”  To which Masry replies “okay... but no benefits.”

                What does this teach us?  Just the typical American fairy tale of willpower?  Something impossible in Europe, especially in Italy?  Maybe.

                There is something, however, that we cannot do. It's about being honest with yourself till the end and fighting for truth.  Erin did it, she insisted on it.  She faced all fears and prejudices against her “inadequate” resumé. 

                Erin fights for her life, and for the life of her children.  They wait for her at home, needing to be loved and fed.

                It's the story of us.  Women.  Women who differ from Erin in that they are happily in a relationship, or are married; we have a partner or husband who supports us, but still our personal bank accounts are in the negatives.

                Of course in some way, we always survive thanks to the help of grandpas, uncles, aunts, and cousins.  But what happens when these people aren't available?  How many moms can afford to work without giving her salary right to the babysitter instead of a savings account?