My mother is a secretary. She is not a personal assistant, or an executive assistant. She is a secretary. She has been one for over 40 years. She learned her skills in an era where secretaries took dictation by shorthand; secretaries enable executives to do their job, without them worrying about things such as typing, placing calls, etc. She used shorthand so often that from time to time, she would forget, and leave me a note in shorthand!