CJ... What was your occupation?

[turbo]

So I did a little searching on CJ, mainly looking for what she did pre-zombie apocalypse. There isn't much. I'm sure we might find out in the last season. The Wiki doesn't even have what she does. I...

[nikvoodoo]

But why the intimate knowledge of the Mallers?

[Osiris]

I'm fairly certain she was a go-go dancer.

"Remember. It's go, go not cry, cry."

[turbo]

But why the intimate knowledge of the Mallers?

to stay one step ahead of them? Good question.

[nikvoodoo]

to stay one step ahead of them? Good question.

Only reason I ask the question is it seems to be a deeper thing than CJ discovered a group of baddies and keeps tabs. Maybe it's Sean that tipped her off to them or maybe she was in the police/prison enforcement fields.

[werewolf]

I think she use to herd kindergartners. and playground monitor.

[turbo]

Only reason I ask the question is it seems to be a deeper thing than CJ discovered a group of baddies and keeps tabs. Maybe it's Sean that tipped her off to them or maybe she was in the police/prison enforcement fields.

I could see that. I think a part of me is just expecting a job you wouldn't expect.

[Red Shirt]

My best guess is that she was a controller or officer for the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department (http://emergency.lacity.org/index.htm). She may have already had several contingency plans in place for extreme civil unrest and infrastructure collapse.

A guy in my old reserve unit who's a cop told me that his squad has a zombie plan. Hell, a few other guys in the unit did too. Not that far fetched to consider when you look at it from the viewpoint of using it as a tactical thought exercise. It's fun too.

Even the CDC has stated that: "If you are ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, you are ready for anything. (http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/)"

[thisonegirl]

My best guess is that she was a controller or officer for the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department (http://emergency.lacity.org/index.htm). She may have already had several contingency plans in place for extreme civil unrest and infrastructure collapse.

That's a really good guess, as I am now reminded of the Other Tower and how solidified the lower levels were, among other things.

[scbubba]

I'm intrigued by nik's idea of CJ being involved in the prison/correctional system. I don't know much about that area of work or what the jobs entail so I can/t speak too much about it other than to say it could give her access to a lot of information.

In general, I think she's more involved with the police side of things since she had so much access to things used by officers on the street instead of in the prisons.

[Hellbringer]

CJ was a Spin instructor at the local gym. She fits the mold of one of my wife's co-workers: controlling, telling people what to do, where to be, how to set up. Could partially explain why CJ was so pissed about losing her leg.

Ok, kidding aside (kind of), when we all first speculated, I figured she was a former prison guard. But as time goes on, I've gone between an architect, an engineer, an IT professional, and even someone on the LA Emergency Management team.

Now, I still think CJ did a lot of planning before the outbreak, but now, I'm thinking she was in a field that gave her a lot more authority than she currently has. And by authority, I totally mean bossing people around. Crap, fashion designer just popped into my head.

[scbubba]

Hmmm. For some reason, CJs past is stuck in my mind this morning. So I got to thinking about what her pre-Z occupation might have been a little deeper.

What do we actually know about CJ?

- Obsessed with information/knowledge
- Access to a lot of information sources both online and offline
- Knows a lot about things but doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with things (except perhaps many tech items?)
- Good physical fitness
- Controlling
- Secretive to a fault
- Thinks more about people as resources/tools than as real people (with few exceptions like Sean and Saul)

What else do we know about her? How might any of these "facts" lead us to her past?

Add on to (or correct) this list and let's see what we come up with...

[Jannit]

I think there are a lot of occupations that could make use of those skills and wedding planner definitely wasn't something I would have thought of. That being said, having a particular skill set doesn't automatically mean that you have a job that makes use of them (devil's advocate here).

As an example: I am very creative and resourceful. I enjoy creating things (sewing, metal work, wood working, etc.). I'm very good at planning things out well ahead of time and seeing potential complications and creating contingencies for those complications. It's borderline obsessive. I'm also pretty handy with a gun and get out camping whenever the opportunity presents itself. That being said, my day job is that of an accountant in the public service. There are very few times when my personal interests and my professional interests intersect.

Thinking up potential jobs for her is an interesting thought exercise but I don't think we're given enough information to be able to "figure it out" as it were.

Personally, I vote for librarian. Most of my reasoning for this flows from the points that Scbubba makes. She has a huge stash of information at Dunbar, understands the importance of information, is exceptionally talented at planning but crappy at execution (implying lack of practical experience at implementation) and seems to have poor people skills. For the record I'm sure there are some lovely librarians out there, this is just a generalization. The physical fitness aspect is unrelated to the job but perhaps it was just a side interest.

[thisonegirl]

Hmmm. For some reason, CJs past is stuck in my mind this morning. So I got to thinking about what her pre-Z occupation might have been a little deeper.

What do we actually know about CJ?

- Obsessed with information/knowledge
- Access to a lot of information sources both online and offline
- Knows a lot about things but doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with things (except perhaps many tech items?)
- Good physical fitness
- Controlling
- Secretive to a fault
- Thinks more about people as resources/tools than as real people (with few exceptions like Sean and Saul)

What else do we know about her? How might any of these "facts" lead us to her past?

Add on to (or correct) this list and let's see what we come up with...


It's really interesting to see what has developed, I think my favorites are the spin instructor and the librarian ("No, no, they don't call them librarians anymore, it's 'printed-word technician.'")

Anyway, can we add to the list her obsession with that sword (katana?) she carried? It might have been part of the occupation she held before, maybe? Or maybe just a decoration on the wall in the building she worked in... Hmmm...

[Jannit]

Another thought on the jobs: If CJ did work in corrections, I'd be inclined to think she did so in a administrative support type of role given her lack of skills as a leader and her ineffectual implementation of plans. Perhaps she's seen people do all of these things in her day job but never got the experience actually doing it herself.

[Jannit]

It's really interesting to see what has developed, I think my favorites are the spin instructor and the librarian ("No, no, they don't call them librarians anymore, it's 'printed-word technician.'")

Anyway, can we add to the list her obsession with that sword (katana?) she carried? It might have been part of the occupation she held before, maybe? Or maybe just a decoration on the wall in the building she worked in... Hmmm...

Haha! My mistake. Is that like petroleum transfer technicians?

The sword is one thing that throws a wrench into the librarian idea. Then again, people have hobbies! This nerdy accountant is also a regular practitioner of martial arts so weirder things have happened.

[thisonegirl]

Haha! My mistake. Is that like petroleum transfer technicians?

The sword is one thing that throws a wrench into the librarian idea. Then again, people have hobbies! This nerdy accountant is also a regular practitioner of martial arts so weirder things have happened.

First and foremost, pahahahahaha! No, it was actually a corrupted/paraphrased line from Neil Labute's Fat Pig where the main female character is a librarian, but she comments on how every unsavory occupation's name has been changed to make it sound more desirable.

Second, but just as important, you are correct that hobbies exist. You are "more correct" in assuming that people have them. I know I have many, so who knows? Maybe librarian is still fitting.

Considering of how I felt when I was writing this post, I think it's time for me to call it a night (I keep weird hours). I bid you all adieu for now. I hope to come back to more speculations about CJ's job. Toodle...
Oooh!

[pmchawk]

I was going to go with dominatrix since she seems to tell everyone what to do.

[Cabbage Patch]

I keep focusing on CJ's comment that the only weapon she had in her apartment when the SHTF was her sword. To me that rules out her being either a cop or a corrections officer...those guys always have guns in their homes.

I like the idea of CJ being a wedding planner. Professional wedding planners are like the shock troops of the meeting and events planning profession. They deal with the worst clients, the toughest deadlines, the most complex events, and they do it all in a "zero-defects" environment with people screaming at them all the time. The ones that are really good at it tend to be intense, demanding, intolerant of human weakness, and more than a little scary.

[pmchawk]

I have 1 knock on the wedding planner thought. How would a wedding planner know so much about Saul's rifle that she thinks a prisoner wouldn't know what she does.

I would suggest a spy but they would likely know that your going to lose a limb with a turnakit (sp?) applied. I'd consider a video game designer or player (such as CoD or battlefield series). Or perhaps someone who is like a quality control for action movies. They would likely know weapons but may not own any.

[turbo]

I have 1 knock on the wedding planner thought. How would a wedding planner know so much about Saul's rifle that she thinks a prisoner wouldn't know what she does.

I would suggest a spy but they would likely know that your going to lose a limb with a turnakit (sp?) applied. I'd consider a video game designer or player (such as CoD or battlefield series). Or perhaps someone who is like a quality control for action movies. They would likely know weapons but may not own any.

True I forgot about that reference to the weapon comment. Maybe it's a hobby?

I really am looking forward to hearing what she did in the past.

[Hanniekuma]

Being both Asian and A Nerdy girl, I can only put myself in CJ's shoes to try to figure out what she did before SHTF.
I fell in love with CJ's character after Saul and Vic delighted in her " How to Manuals." I create my own how to manuals for work and home. I also know how to prepare for a bugout...and guess what I do for a living? I'm a medical coder. We must not assume that a person's talents can only be job based. I'm pretty sure that since she's Chinese, she's an over achiever, attentive to detail, and is constantly prepared. If her parents were anything like mine, she was taught to survive at an early age, encouraged to learn everything she could. No play time...always study, learn, research time. I don't have a Katana but I do have throwing stars and knives. I don't have a gun. She's Chinese, so it's safe to say she isn't a Nurse..that's a field that's dominated by Filipinos. She could be an architect or an engineer because she knows how to fortify a stronghold. But then again, she could be a medical coder like me, that likes to read and had a father that was an engineer. :)

[thisonegirl]

I like the idea of CJ being a wedding planner. Professional wedding planners are like the shock troops of the meeting and events planning profession. They deal with the worst clients, the toughest deadlines, the most complex events, and they do it all in a "zero-defects" environment with people screaming at them all the time. The ones that are really good at it tend to be intense, demanding, intolerant of human weakness, and more than a little scary.

You forgot that all of them will go ape-shit if something doesn't go their way, too. It's why I didn't have a wedding planner for my wedding, I can't give up that kind of control, lol.

[thisonegirl]

I have 1 knock on the wedding planner thought. How would a wedding planner know so much about Saul's rifle that she thinks a prisoner wouldn't know what she does.

I would suggest a spy but they would likely know that your going to lose a limb with a turnakit (sp?) applied. I'd consider a video game designer or player (such as CoD or battlefield series). Or perhaps someone who is like a quality control for action movies. They would likely know weapons but may not own any.


... I totally forgot that they live in LA. Of course, it's a possibility that she might have worked in movies! Because she had trouble with the katana, I refuse to believe that she would be anything like a combat choreographer, because I know that you need to have actual experience with a multitude of weapons (at least in theatre). I'm thinking maybe she was an assistant director or a stage manager.

I work in theatre and, although I know many facets of working backstage, I love it when I'm a stage manager. I gotta say, though, you have to act like the strictest, bitchiest mother (like actual mom) around. Can't have anybody stepping on my toes or things start to fall apart.

[thisonegirl]

She's Chinese, so it's safe to say she isn't a Nurse..that's a field that's dominated by Filipinos.


I would suggest a spy but they would likely know that your going to lose a limb with a turnakit (sp?) applied.

pmchawk brought up a good point about knowing what a tourniquet does. That's why I haven't thought of CJ as anybody who worked in the medicine field, she would know exactly what a tourniquet did and she would have been aware that it might mean losing her limb. I believe she would've fought that tourniquet harder that fighting with Tanya about keeping her leg.

[EpiEpee]

pmchawk brought up a good point about knowing what a tourniquet does. That's why I haven't thought of CJ as anybody who worked in the medicine field, she would know exactly what a tourniquet did and she would have been aware that it might mean losing her limb. I believe she would've fought that tourniquet harder that fighting with Tanya about keeping her leg.

I hear what you're saying, and mostly agree. But, 2 thoughts:

1- If she knew a tourniquet was bad, her survival instinct probably kicked in and was fighting so hard to keep her alive that she was ok with the tourniquet at the time of the injury. People change their minds when death is imminent and they are not ready to go. So even if she had previously thought she would never want to survive without a limb, her will to live took precedence over losing a limb.

2-She may have known a tourniquet was bad and not known the full reasons behind it. I'm pretty sure at First Aid classes and the like, they say they are a last resort, but don't explain why. She may have thought she had some hope to keep the leg, not realizing the toxins on the other side of the tourniquet would prevent that.

I'm not ready to commit to any one camp as to what CJ's previous profession was, but I think not knowing the complete consequences of a tourniquet doesn't prevent her from being associated with healthcare in some way. There are plenty of non-clinical staff around hospitals who don't have patient interaction, and could be involved in planning.

[pmchawk]

Also, I'm still trying to wrap my head around her getting trees moved that could produce fruit with 4 months. How would someone know that it was possible.

[scbubba]

Maybe related... or not.

Was listening for something in Chapter 27 and got to the point in 27-2 (around the 12:50 mark) where CJ is recounting what happened in Dunbar the day Kalani arrived. She and Sean were talking:
Sean: Come here.
CJ: Now's not the time. There's too much work to be done.
Sean: You keep doing this, you're gonna break down again. I'm just worried about you.

Kalani got to Dunbar the same day he landed at LAX and CJ says he showed up a couple of days before they were overrun. The timeline puts that a few weeks after Z-day in LA.

So Sean has known CJ long enough to develop a deeper relationship than we see her have with anyone else. AND he's seen her have some sort of breakdown. This could have all occurred between Z-day and Kalani's arrival but I think we're supposed to infer that Sean and CJ go back before Z-day....

[Grognaurd]

And where do people go when they have a breakdown? Oh, and what character do we know who had (another?) major breakdown? Oh, and where was a guy named ink headed and where was the only tattoo "parlor" we have seen? Oh, and do we know any psychologist who may have worked in a hospital? "Paging Dr. Fabre, ouh that's me..."

Along the timeline, when they are looking for all the stolen stuff when coming back from the arena and Kelly is going through Lizzy's stuff,Lizzy says those are the sweat vials and that is like three weeks worth of work. The current timeline has fuel depot / sweat / water works as bunch, the three weeks comment clearly pushes them way back.

[Grognaurd]

Also, I'm still trying to wrap my head around her getting trees moved that could produce fruit with 4 months. How would someone know that it was possible.

I would suspect a lot of people have container gardens and she just wheeled some of their huge pots around

[thisonegirl]

I'm pretty sure at First Aid classes and the like, they say they are a last resort, but don't explain why. She may have thought she had some hope to keep the leg, not realizing the toxins on the other side of the tourniquet would prevent that.

This is the only point I disagree with within your two points. There hasn't been any first aid class that I went to that did not stress why a tourniquet is a last resort and why. Of course, the only problem that you might find with my counterargument is "that I went to", I've already thought of it for you :p You might be right and there might be some classes out there that do no provide the why.


I'm not ready to commit to any one camp as to what CJ's previous profession was, but I think not knowing the complete consequences of a tourniquet doesn't prevent her from being associated with healthcare in some way. There are plenty of non-clinical staff around hospitals who don't have patient interaction, and could be involved in planning.

Lol, I'm not sure if you've read through all my posts here, but I obviously haven't committed to any which one thing either, I'm still speculating. I never said she didn't work in a non-clinical aspect of the medicine field, but I also never said I didn't believe she was in a non-clinical occupation. I only said "medicine field" and should have probably been more specific. I actually thought maybe Hanniekuma had a point when she said CJ might be someone like a medical coder. So, touché, for pointing out the error of my ways! (no, I'm not being hostile, I just have an amazingly dry sense of humor)

[Duffusmonkey]

I think CJ's parents were immigrants and she was forced to work at thier nail salon. We know that she had a meaningless job she hated enough that she considered her current state to be more significant

[pmchawk]

So Sean has known CJ long enough to develop a deeper relationship than we see her have with anyone else. AND he's seen her have some sort of breakdown. This could have all occurred between Z-day and Kalani's arrival but I think we're supposed to infer that Sean and CJ go back before Z-day....

I agree with this 100%. CJ doesn't fit the bill to start a relationship in the middle of SHTF and trying to get everything secure and in place. I always thought Saul was wrong when he mentions to victor that they have known CJ longer.

Perhaps CJ does private security. I had always assumed some kind of law enforcement and something happened on the job to have her "break down".

[Raven]

"Paging Dr. Fabre, ouh that's me...".
I'm not 100% sure on this but didn't lizzie say she never actually worked as a dr ? She just went along with her dad wanting her to go to college or something to that effect? But the CJ/Ink thing could be interesting....

[thisonegirl]

I'm not 100% sure on this but didn't lizzie say she never actually worked as a dr ? She just went along with her dad wanting her to go to college or something to that effect? But the CJ/Ink thing could be interesting....

You are correct, she said she never actually worked as a therapist, but she finished school because her dad was "footing the bill". I was just listening to this episode two nights ago.

[Grognaurd]

My guess is there would still be practical sessions while she was in school. I cannot imagine a doctoral program being strictly class room, book and theoretical. I have been in group therapy sessions facilitated graduate students.

[Grognaurd]

My guess is there would still be practical sessions while she was in school. I cannot imagine a doctoral program being strictly class room, book and theoretical. I have been in group therapy sessions facilitated graduate students.

[thisonegirl]

My guess is there would still be practical sessions while she was in school. I cannot imagine a doctoral program being strictly class room, book and theoretical. I have been in group therapy sessions facilitated graduate students.

This is also true. What I meant to say, was that I don't think she ever worked after she had her degree. I'm pretty sure that's the point she makes.

I'll try to find the dialogue in the podcast.

[Grognaurd]

You are right, she never worked as a therapist. But, I my guess is she has to have practical experience and she says the paging comment so freely that it sounds to me like she has experience hearing it a lot in hospitals

[Witch_Doctor]

Preppers! CJ was a prepper. Somewhere deep within the bowels of Dunbar is a foundry and a hoard of pre-1964 dimes and quarters with which to melt and mold silver ingots. A Gadsden Flag. Free Government Publications from Pueblo Colorado. And the book, Build Your Own Laser, Phaser, Ion Ray Gun and Other Working Space Age Projects (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Laser-Phaser-Working-Projects/dp/0830606041)

[Red Shirt]

Preppers! CJ was a prepper. Somewhere deep within the bowels of Dunbar is a foundry and a hoard of pre-1964 dimes and quarters with which to melt and mold silver ingots. A Gadsden Flag. Free Government Publications from Pueblo Colorado. And the book, Build Your Own Laser, Phaser, Ion Ray Gun and Other Working Space Age Projects (http://www.amazon.com/Build-Laser-Phaser-Working-Projects/dp/0830606041)

Hey, don't forget The Poor Man's James Bond, the Anarchist's Cookbook and pretty much the entire Paladin Press (http://www.paladin-press.com/) catalog.

[scbubba]

One more thing that might help in the quest for CJ's past....

In Chapter 31-2, Saul and Victor are trying to convince CJ that they need to go to the Colony to get Glenn's sat phone. They try to persuade her by suggesting that it would be nice to go somewhere that might be "normal".

CJ responds at about 4:34 - "What's normal?!? Working most of your life doing trivial shit just to get by?"

So she doesn't necessarily think very highly of her previous life/job, IMO

[Grognaurd]

One more thing that might help in the quest for CJ's past....

In Chapter 31-2, Saul and Victor are trying to convince CJ that they need to go to the Colony to get Glenn's sat phone. They try to persuade her by suggesting that it would be nice to go somewhere that might be "normal".

CJ responds at about 4:34 - "What's normal?!? Working most of your life doing trivial shit just to get by?"

So she doesn't necessarily think very highly of her previous life/job, IMO

I took this to also refer to the present reality. Kalani fought his way to a plane, crashed, fought his way out of LAX and she sends him down to mix concrete within 15 minutes of arrival. Duncan and Samantha do not seem happy to be there and Kalani hopes to see sunlight in a couple of weeks.

She really does treat her people like peasants and thinks of herself as an action hero. She has the drop on Saul and fails to kill him. She gets her sword stuck in a zombie and Scratch kicks her ass. She is fricken delusional. All hat no cattle. Talks the talk but cannot walk the walk. She is an arrogant bookworm who has no field experience. One of the worse leaders to have.

She would make a good Subject Matter Expert, but she has to lose the chip on her shoulder. Michael is so far ahead of her in natural charisma and the leadership learning curve it is pathetic.

[Witch_Doctor]

One more thing that might help in the quest for CJ's past....

In Chapter 31-2, Saul and Victor are trying to convince CJ that they need to go to the Colony to get Glenn's sat phone. They try to persuade her by suggesting that it would be nice to go somewhere that might be "normal".

CJ responds at about 4:34 - "What's normal?!? Working most of your life doing trivial shit just to get by?"

So she doesn't necessarily think very highly of her previous life/job, IMO


I took this to also refer to the present reality. Kalani fought his way to a plane, crashed, fought his way out of LAX and she sends him down to mix concrete within 15 minutes of arrival. Duncan and Samantha do not seem happy to be there and Kalani hopes to see sunlight in a couple of weeks.

She really does treat her people like peasants and thinks of herself as an action hero. She has the drop on Saul and fails to kill him. She gets her sword stuck in a zombie and Scratch kicks her ass. She is fricken delusional. All hat no cattle. Talks the talk but cannot walk the walk. She is an arrogant bookworm who has no field experience. One of the worse leaders to have.

She would make a good Subject Matter Expert, but she has to lose the chip on her shoulder. Michael is so far ahead of her in natural charisma and the leadership learning curve it is pathetic.

SCBubba has a point here. When she first meets Victor and Saul and they realize that she's not a Maller, one of them refers to her as a 'nobody'. She seems more hurt and offended by this comment than being captured by the duo, and screams out, "I'm NOT just some nobody!" It's like she didn't get any validation for her talents before the SHTF.

As far as her medical training background, for what it is worth, when Saul ties the tourniquet around her leg he starts to say that it will stop the bleeding but CJ interrupts and finishes the sentence. Saul replies/rebukes, "I know, because you know everything.

It seems that managing people is a weak point for her. Like GrogNaurd said in another, she's no leader. This would weaken the suggestion that she is a spy. Modern spy craft often (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_HUMINT) involves manipulating people, who have information, to betray their country and share that information with you. She seems to have way more military & survival knowledge necessary for, say, a Chinese agent who would more likely try to steal computer technology or high tech manufacturing secrets. Although, it would be interesting to see this story played out with China spying on Radon Labs.

[Witch_Doctor]

Hey, don't forget The Poor Man's James Bond, the Anarchist's Cookbook and pretty much the entire Paladin Press (http://www.paladin-press.com/) catalog.

Great, now I have to add these to my collection.

EDIT: WOW!

There is also a movie called The Anarchist's Cookbook (http://anarchistcookbookdvd.com/) about a character who shows up with the book to a group of kids called The Family led by a kid named Puck.

The Anarchist's Cookbook on IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284850/

[Jannit]

You all are making me feel much more secure in my vote for Librarian being CJ's occupation. :P

[pmchawk]

One more thing that might help in the quest for CJ's past....

In Chapter 31-2, Saul and Victor are trying to convince CJ that they need to go to the Colony to get Glenn's sat phone. They try to persuade her by suggesting that it would be nice to go somewhere that might be "normal".

CJ responds at about 4:34 - "What's normal?!? Working most of your life doing trivial shit just to get by?"

So she doesn't necessarily think very highly of her previous life/job, IMO

In away I agree with CJ in the fact that we all do things that are very trivial. Weare all slaves to the almighty dollar. It would be liberating to not have to work to get $$ to do things or to even survive.

[Witch_Doctor]

On the face value, I always suspected that she was part of the Coast Guard rescue team.

[Hanniekuma]

Whatever CJ's occupation was, I think she's just a classic Type A. She could have been a military brat, moved around a lot, learned everything she could. She's a classic over achiever, her how to...

[pmchawk]

I GOT IT! Everyone knows how she is a great planner but has horrible execution. What happened, the outbreak, was all her fault, she was in charge of something (ex. transporting or security) of...

[Hanniekuma]

OH! So that's why she's so motivated and taking point! Awesome observation!

[thisonegirl]

I agree with quite a bit of this, except for a couple points. The chance that she is an only child is pretty big, especially if her family came from a Chinese city. I know that people in rural China...

[Hanniekuma]

I agree with quite a bit of this, except for a couple points. The chance that she is an only child is pretty big, especially if her family came from a Chinese city. I know that people in rural China tend to ignore that one child policy. However I've met some people who were the eldest but are not at all nurturing, because they never dealt with their siblings as babies. They look at their younger siblings as, and I quote "the midget that lives in my house".

The other point I don't agree with is... stoic. Really? You think she's stoic? I just can't say I agree.
Point in case Chapter 37-3.
Granted she lost a limb, and maybe there's only like a handful of people who would be stoic about that, but just in general I don't think she's stoic.
(small and resigned voice) Or maybe it's just that CJ annoys me...


After she lost her limb, she was still vocal, but she powered through it, just like a soldier on point. I should have explained the stoic point in more detail. I know the most common definition of stoic, is to not complain or show any emotion, even if in pain- physical and emotional. My use of the word stoic is incorrect and maybe I should have used " a follower of Stoicism" instead. But even that was stretching it. CJ showed a great deal of self control, even after her surgery. She was able to put aside her pain, both physical and emotional, and replace it with determination. Indomitable, stubborn, or just plain badass might have been a better word to use.
I certainly appreciate this feedback. I'm loving this, actually :)

Her voice annoys me too. But I can relate to her...and Datu, my favorite, ay nako!

[Red Shirt]

A bit OT, but recently I went through a period where I had little to no funds and my material belongings was reduced to (more or less) what I could carry. I haven't felt that liberated and free for...

[thisonegirl]

My use of the word stoic is incorrect and maybe I should have used " a follower of Stoicism" instead. But even that was stretching it. CJ showed a great deal of self control, even after her surgery. She was able to put aside her pain, both physical and emotional, and replace it with determination. Indomitable, stubborn, or just plain badass might have been a better word to use.
I certainly appreciate this feedback. I'm loving this, actually :)

Her voice annoys me too. But I can relate to her...and Datu, my favorite, ay nako!

Ok, I still think it is stretching it a bit, but I can see it. I should clarify, her voice does not annoy me, the character does. And I like Datu, too! He needs to be a stuffed toy, so I can squish him with my love!

[Grognaurd]

For Osiris it is all about Scratch. For me,one of the main themes is Leadership. CJ exhibits a pretty good first pass plan. It is well thought out and pretty good, if nothing goes wrong, but she does not have enough contingency planning and makes a lot of assumptions.

Let's just look at the Other Tower. She puts everything into one barrier; outside vs inside. BAD! She would be much better with multiple zones of control and defense in depth. There are no safe rooms. There is no rapid response defense. Everything is centralized around CJ. Even a super secret hidey hide for her alone. The populace, their best defense is to try and break out of the one hardened barrier out into the teeth of the siege. After the fall, life goes back to normal for her, it is all about CJ. Maybe she tried to help with the rescue efforts, I doubt it. She has a team at the water works, but she does not seem to try and link up with them.

I suspect we will find it was a rally point for Sean and others.

[Witch_Doctor]

Does anyone remember when Bixby says to CJ,"Yes, Ma'am" and she replies with something like, "It's not ma'am, it's CJ."? Reminds me of Micheal's disdain for being called 'sir' by Tommy because of the association of that term with officers. So perhaps she had some sort of background involving military ranks (Military, law enforcement, school hall monitor...) but wasn't an officer.

In any case, she has a VAST amount of technical knowledge.

The whole story has a theme involving someone assuming a leadership roll by rallying survivors. One by one all of the leaders succumb to their own fault with the decimation of their flock.


Micheal assumes control due to Angel's lack of experience and strength.
CJ giving direction to confused people.
Marcus pretending to be a military leader then creating a dystopian utopia.
Kimmet taking a cold, hard and unforgiving in response to the outbreak.
Scratch with lies, manipulation, and intimidation.
Durai is,... Durai. He's ok...:hsugh:


The list can go on...

[BigBossMan]

I'm intrigued by nik's idea of CJ being involved in the prison/correctional system. I don't know much about that area of work or what the jobs entail so I can/t speak too much about it other than to say it could give her access to a lot of information.

In general, I think she's more involved with the police side of things since she had so much access to things used by officers on the street instead of in the prisons.

I'm a correctional officer, so I could answer your questions about the job. I'm thinking ex-cop myself.

[7oddisdead]

im just gonna throw this one out there, in part to be funny, in part because it makes sense in a weird way.

child beauty pageant event cooridinator.

boom, solved.

[scbubba]

Does anyone remember when Bixby says to CJ,"Yes, Ma'am" and she replies with something like, "It's not ma'am, it's CJ."? Reminds me of Micheal's disdain for being called 'sir' by Tommy because of the association of that term with officers. So perhaps she had some sort of background involving military ranks (Military, law enforcement, school hall monitor...) but wasn't an officer.

In any case, she has a VAST amount of technical knowledge.

That could be the common disdain that a lot of women have for the term because it often implies a more "mature" or elderly role and appearance.


The whole story has a theme involving someone assuming a leadership roll by rallying survivors. One by one all of the leaders succumb to their own fault with the decimation of their flock.


Micheal assumes control due to Angel's lack of experience and strength.
CJ giving direction to confused people.
Marcus pretending to be a military leader then creating a dystopian utopia.
Kimmet taking a cold, hard and unforgiving in response to the outbreak.
Scratch with lies, manipulation, and intimidation.
Durai is,... Durai. He's ok...:hsugh:


The list can go on...
Good point and list. Just about any story, historical or fiction, of human struggle hinges on leadership. All too often it is in a failure of leadership which is very often attributed to a fatal character flaw.

Back to CJ's occupation.... In 38-2, she sounded a whole lot like every power tripped project manager I have ever worked with in my 20+ year career. I'm not saying every project manager is like CJ's character. I'm saying that CJ's character is like a subset of project managers that I have worked with. And it's not a small subset....

So, I'll double down on my vote for project manager and add to it that she mainly worked on projects in the law enforcement or DoD realms.

[Hanniekuma]

I still think she was an engineer. Not a seasoned one, but maybe a new graduate.

CJ reminds me a lot of the engineer in Schindler's List.

just in case you haven't seen it.....here's the vid. There's some swearing in this and an execution. Warning, it's not an easy thing to watch, especially if you are an engineer or have any sort of mechanical background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG5DifyudK8AND may I remind you..it's from Schindler's List...

[Witch_Doctor]

I still think she was an engineer. Not a seasoned one, but maybe a new graduate.


Interesting that you would bring up engineer. This morning I solved the mystery. CJ was Dunbar Apartments' MAINTENANCE MAN!!

[Hanniekuma]

Interesting that you would bring up engineer. This morning I solved the mystery. CJ was Dunbar Apartments' MAINTENANCE MAN!!

Stand down Maint...oh wait...um...would it be in poor taste if we told CJ to take a knee?

[alexcadtek]

I think she was a COSTCO manager! She know's how to direct people because she worked at costco and she know's how to get things becasue what doesnt costco have! Oh and she know's about guns and getting prepared becasue she probably had a dad in the millitary. Boo ya! solved it

[Footbutt]

i'll take a stab at it....

Chinese Government Spy that moonlighted as a third-shift Rent-A-Cop (a la "Men At Work", starring Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez).

[Merlin1274]

I say CJ headed up the LA Chinese Moffia.

[TacticalJHP]

(The following is my personal opinion of Cj. I can be completely wrong. Time will hopefully tell.)

I believe Cj was a upward moving business woman. She exhibits all the traits of a CEO, and she knows it. But she is not a CEO yet, and that burns her. That is why it upset her so much when Victor and Saul called her a "nobody." Obsessive, controlling, strives for knowledge, and an overly secret personality was developed from climbing the corporate ladder, working hard herself, ordering those under her, and stabbing her competition in the back.

She is for sure a planner, not a fighter. If she was PD, or part of any criminal organization, she would have had a firearm in her apartment when the outbreak started instead of the Katana, which she honestly cannot use very well. I believe most of her knowledge of how to shoot came from basic instruction from Sean. The only firefight she was in (that we know of) was handled badly as well.

If it was for decoration as an anime fan, or symbol of power, the Katana became a weapon because it was on hand. Her overall good physical health and cunning have helped her, but it caught up to her when she fought a true knife fighter in Scratch.

Her exterior of toughness is also a wall, put up to keep people out. As Sean mentioned, she already had one breakdown, and she also hid during the attack on the other tower. Those breakdowns will come back to haunt us, i'm afraid...

[Merlin1274]

(The following is my personal opinion of Cj. I can be completely wrong. Time will hopefully tell.)

I believe Cj was a upward moving business woman. She exhibits all the traits of a CEO, and she knows it. But she is not a CEO yet, and that burns her. That is why it upset her so much when Victor and Saul called her a "nobody." Obsessive, controlling, strives for knowledge, and an overly secret personality was developed from climbing the corporate ladder, working hard herself, ordering those under her, and stabbing her competition in the back.

She is for sure a planner, not a fighter. If she was PD, or part of any criminal organization, she would have had a firearm in her apartment when the outbreak started instead of the Katana, which she honestly cannot use very well. I believe most of her knowledge of how to shoot came from basic instruction from Sean. The only firefight she was in (that we know of) was handled badly as well.

If it was for decoration as an anime fan, or symbol of power, the Katana became a weapon because it was on hand. Her overall good physical health and cunning have helped her, but it caught up to her when she fought a true knife fighter in Scratch.

Her exterior of toughness is also a wall, put up to keep people out. As Sean mentioned, she already had one breakdown, and she also hid during the attack on the other tower. Those breakdowns will come back to haunt us, i'm afraid...

That is an awesome theory on CJ. Really fits the bill when you think about it.. But she was good enough to get the jump on Saul. So the chick does have skills. Just scratch probably has way more experience up close and personal with a blade.

[TacticalJHP]

Oh, there is no doubt Cj excelled at stealth. At least from the time the other tower fell, she survived by being as covert as possible.

[RoxanneBusch]

It's like security patrol! I'm a teacher and find that you do a good job! Everybody should do that thing that he is talented. For example, I'm talented in writing, so I write for online writing service ca.papersowl.com (https://ca.papersowl.com/). And a lot of students appreciate my work, some of my colleagues find it awesome.

[Thezombiereseacher]

Huh so this thread is kinda dead but I'll add something to it. Here I go.
I think cj was an selfish introverted otaku that worked at the library.
First I'm gonna explain the introvert theory.
First off, she was perfectly fine being alone in her tower, also the death of her fallen occupants didn't really phase her. Sean also suggested that cj gets over worked easily due to it happening often. Introverted people usually can handle lots of work easily but at a heavy cost.....stress.
Next up the otaku part, or should I say she was a weeb in hiding....this is kinda easy to explain she had a katana in her appartment.....now I read some comments saying it was probably a hobby but if it was she would be better trained with it and, she is not well trained in that field of combat shown when she gets the sword stuck in a zombies bone from swinging incorrectly. When saw talked to Victor about movie night vic said "aww not more of that anime" but cj seemed ok with watching it.
Next the library job. I half think she worked at the library and half think she was a weeb who inherited the hotel she survived in like Bill inherited his apartments. So the library theory is kinda half baked. She could have worked at the library because she was an introvert which would also line up with how she remembered "how to books" but maybe she just sent a team to get them.
The selfish part next.
Now I'm not against selfishness in this situation....you Just gotta look out for #1 but th just kinda went overboard. Cj is perfectly fine with using others as test subjects for her agenda as seen when she messed up victors suit at the time where she wanted pics of ground zero, or when she split the whole walled in community when they were low on resources i think she sent multiple groups to multiple locations to test the area before she picked which group to go with while she stayed at her original tower with saw and liz. She only keeps the walled up community going because she needs protection cause she lost her limb after saving them. Buuuuut heeeeey thaaaatssss just a theory an audio story theory. If ya read this whole thing thnx. You must have a pretty long attention span to read this whole half baked theory. Sidenote/ cj referred to saw and Vic as her tennants as if they were renting a room from her. So that could refer to her being a apartment manager.

[EileenF00]

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