Yo' Mama... Writes the Best Butt-Kickin' Letters

This week's Last Day Email is a little bit different from our usual fare.  For one thing, it was written by a mom to her grown-up daughter.  And instead of saying "good-bye" to a workplace, it's more of a warning that if the grown-up daughter doesn't get her shit together, she'd end up at her current workplace for the rest of her life.

Mothers!

They have such a knack for rubbing you the wrong way, in order to guide you the right way!




When this letter was written, the grown-up daughter was a modern dance major who had dropped out of college and was waitressing at a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Plantation, Florida.   It was not her dream job.

Can you imagine being in a life slump and receiving this from your mother?

Dear Leslie,

Consider what you will do if FIT doesn’t work out for next fall. Do you have an alternative plan? You’d better think about it or you’ll be working as a waitress all your life. How does that sound?

That’s all for now.

Love,
Mom

Source:  The New York Times 

Arghhhh!  Where did you cringe?  I cringed at "How does that sound?"  And then, just when I thought the worst was over, a dagger was thrust, quick and deep, into the gut: "That's all for now."  Ahhhh!  So dismissive, so business-like, so threatening of what might come!  And then, the juxtaposition of that cruel ending with "Love, Mom," is just brilliantly disorienting, thrusting you deep into a gyrating kaleidscope of emotions.  Well done, mom, well done.

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending, because the writer of the letter was Sylvia Abualy, and the daughter she was writing to was a twenty-something Leslie Blodgett, the former CEO and now Chairman of Bare Escentuals, the cosmetic company that creates the revolutionary Bare Minerals line of make-up products.  Here is how she was described by Inc. magazine in a recent profile:

When Leslie Blodgett became CEO of Bare Escentuals in 1994 -- the company was then a tiny maker of bath and body products -- she saw a huge opportunity selling healthy mineral-based makeup. But she didn't quite realize how many women she could reach until she made a pitch on late-night TV. The company's rapid growth led to a 2006 IPO, followed by the sale of the company this year for $1.7 billion to Shiseido, the Japanese beauty giant.

So, that's that.

Have you ever received a kick in the gonads from a loved one? Submit it here!