On My Mind: Daniel and the Squirrel

Image found on Google Images: This is NOT Helen Keller

When I was living in LA and going to FIDM, I had a job working for a clothing company called Kritik. It was a pretty exciting job as the company was really taking off and there were only 7 employees to man the fort. We were getting big but not quite big enough to justify hiring more help so there was always plenty of work to be done. We operated out of a house in Beverly Hills and our storage room for all our past season clothes was the guest house out back. Despite all our best efforts it never failed that the storage room became disorganized and our computer inventory was never quite accurate when compared to what sat on the shelves. As a result, we turned to outside help. Someone found a "professional organizer" on Craigslist and a week later he started. His name was Daniel and every time I was around him I couldn't stop thinking about Ernest Saves Christmas. He was definitely eclectic, eccentric and he may have even lived out of his car but he worked hard. One day Daniel showed up a teeny bit late with a really big story. He found this squirrel: a baby squirrel. And he was able to confirm that the baby squirrels' mother had died. So he did what any good Samaritan would do and put the baby in his car. He put the squirrel in his car to live until she was old enough to fend for herself. Remember how I mentioned that Daniel might have lived in his car? Well he did live in his car and therefore spent his nights with a rambunctious baby squirrel hopping all over his face and seats, doing heaven knows what else. Have you noticed how fast squirrels really move? He would show up to work with scratches as evidence of her handiwork. He named her Helen Keller. I would sit at my desk on the second floor and look out the window at a spastic squirrel literally flying from one part of the car to the other and I would think to myself.....no one could write this. That image is forever ingrained in my memory and I laugh every time I think of it. I know that Helen Keller was eventually released because I remember the tears streaming down Daniel's face when he told us of their departure but every time I see a squirrel (which is 20 times a day here) I find myself often wondering what happened to Daniel. If you live in the LA area and happen to find a "professional organizer" on Craigslist named Daniel: hire him. I'm positive you will walk away with a wonderful story of your own.