Susan, Office Management Specialist
My name is Susan and I'm an Office Management Specialist.
The day that mattered most was the day of the first presidential elections in Afghanistan and I go to go out as part of the polling team. So, as part of the Economic-Political team, I was working with nine officers in the Political and Economic sections. Our job was to track all of the events leading to the election. We had Congressional delegations, which we call "CODELs" coming to Kabul about once a week. So, we had a lot of regular office activities and we had the CODELs coming, which would disrupt everything. We had Secretary Rumsfeld. We had Secretary Powell come.
That was happening months in advance. So, we were ready — the Embassy — everybody was gearing up for the election. And we really did not know what that day would bring. How peaceful things would be — what would really happen. But we went out onto the streets and we went to different polling booths, and people were out everywhere — families, children — ladies walking together. It was sort of a festive, very festive mood.
We saw people with purple thumbs, where they had dipped their thumbs in the ink 'cause they couldn't sign. And, everywhere we went, people were just so happy — so pleased and so proud of themselves. And for me, since I had been there almost a year and working almost everyday towards this very thing, it was just overwhelming.
My husband and I are a tandem couple, and he joined first in 1984…and I worked wherever he was until 2003. I decided that I had had enough of just trailing and I thought I would jump onboard, too. So, my first assignment took me to Kabul, Afghanistan.
When I worked in the political econ section in Kabul, I worked for nine officers and was pretty much considered an equal team member. And, you know, as long as you pull your weight and people realize what you're doing and what you're doing for them, it's really, really great.