Inspiring Women Spring 2018

I wonder if the panic button has something to do with pie. I haven’t thought about pie for a
couple of years, but now I can’t stop conjuring visions of my mom’s pumpkin, lemon meringue,
pecan, and peach pies. Flaky crusts, whipped cream, the works. I take a drag from my Benson
and Hedges cigarette, a luxury I can’t afford. I scrimp on meals, but I buy these stupid cigarettes
because I like the way the package looks.
“If any man comes into the salon for any reason, one of us has to stand by the panic button and
be prepared to hit it. Because we don’t want a VBI here in Flushing.”
“A VBI?” I say.
“Vibrating Belt Incident,” says Deanna. “Don’t ask.”
***
The following week when I’m alone and closing the salon—I step onto one of the vibrating belt
machines and hook the belt
around my butt. I turn on the
machine. In the mirror—there are
mirrors everywhere in this place—I
catch a glimpse of myself as I
shake, waggle, and roll. Look at
that. Turns out I have a lot of fat
on my skinny frame. There’s a
stout girl lurking inside me, and I
see her, right there in my jiggling
reflection. That’s it. No more pie
for me. I lock up and go home.
***
A miracle! Four months into my
Elaine Powers siege a music
agent calls and offers me a gig at
the Newark Airport Holiday Inn,
where I’ll play the piano five
nights a week for turnpike lounge
lizards, red-eyed truck drivers, and world-weary flight crews—the worker bees of the
transportation industry. For a while I do both jobs, but eventually, I resign from Elaine Powers. I’ll
miss getting paid to exercise and I’m sad about saying goodbye to Cathy and Deanna. During
my final Team Time, I blast Donna Summer’s cassette on the boom box. I work hard for my
money, chase away those chubby knees, and wish my clients well.
“You know what?” I say to the ladies. “A little bit of fat is okay. Be fit. Be foxy. Be healthy. Be
happy. Listen to music. Dance. Keep moving. Don’t worry so much about the pie. ”
Cathy smiles at me. Deanna scowls. I exit. Obvious is good.
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Robin Meloy Goldsby's solo piano career has taken her from Pittsburgh to posh New York City
venues and exclusive resorts, and on to the European castles and concert stages where she
now performs. Robin, a Steinway Artist, has seven recordings to her name and has appeared
in the USA on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Piano Jazz with Marian
McPartland. She is the author of Piano Girl, Rhythm, Waltz of the Asparagus People,
and Manhattan Road Trip.
Currently, Robin is the featured pianist at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst in Cologne, Germany. Her
latest recording, Home and Away, launched on November 26th, 2017. You can visit Robin’s
web page at www.goldsby.de.