INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

STEPHANIE WIE

The mark
of success

HEY SAY you can tell if

I yours is a successful career or

that come with it, As the

theory yoes, one’s profession is judged

not by salary, but rather in iuach hours,

parking spaces, aad the quality of your
bali-point pens,

This made perfect sense until 1 applicd
ibe criteria 19 my own work, I have plenty
of good pens. | buy them myself. And no
one beyond a bunioned waitress cares a
whit if T uke a two-hour lunch. Besides
teat, I can park just about anywhere —
until the parking bylaw man comes by,
that is,

Sill, it's hard to use the phrase

“successful career’? when it means sitting .

at the compuier in a slained bathrobe al 2
am., scarfing down Cheezies and diet
Coke.

Maybe it’s because 1 work alone. That
can make you crazy. Onc writer explained
the problem by noting bow easily she
might choke on a rice cake, drop dead,
and lic stiff beneath ber desk for days be-
fore anyone clued in. Of course, that same
tisk applics to many goverment workers,
but at feast chey get a dental plan.

This often feels more like a sickness
than a job. Like when | get a dull story

that runs through my head. It’s there even -

as I roam supermarket aisles, where my
lips move as I mentally re-write, and
people think I'm whispering to the
cauliflower.

Co

merely a dull job by the perks -

A night to
celebrate

CLOCKWISE trom the lop:
Caledonia graduates Chris
tine , Laura Yip,
tynn Wright and Mariiyn
Watte celebrated the end of
12 years of high school last
weekend. Graduation
‘Caramonias were on Fi
night (ef), followed by a
luet and prom on Sat-
urday night.
inte Wiebe got one

fast chance to get in the:
good books of her
twachers. Whan asked
what she IIked best about
English 12. she said tha
teachar, Don Mackaod. Of
‘coursa, ha was standing
sight beside har.

Cindy Menz gives her
prom dress one last chock
In tha mirror before tha
dance, She was busy bo-
fore duati

A stained bathrobe, Char in-
sists, Is a writer's uniform —~
“Like @ Girl Guida,” she says —
and the Cheezies are merely
perks of the business, maybe
even tools of the trade.

Nor do 1 find muck professional pride in
moments speat Qipping dictionary pages to
Jearn whether ‘“spitwad” is one word oF two.
(Been there, done that)

F admit [ have a bad attitude here. My friend
Char is a writer, 190, but while | come across.

as a bumbling bozo with a keyboard, she,

holds a sleek, profeccional image.
Take last week, for example, While I wrote
‘the scoond dealt of my grocery list, Char
dashed alt a story und faxed it to editor
across the country. The result? She hits print; 1
forget mil.

Then there's billing. I forget to send in-
voices, Not Chur. She nov only remembers,
alice unce tacked an cxwa ‘‘aggravation fee’
onto her bill, submiting it ta a magazine
eaitor who'd tieked her off He paid i.

Char puts an sir of authority into her work.
Even ber language is prafessional, What 1
might cell a witine-and-snivel fest, Char terms.
an ‘editorial meeting."?

She acces wrhing as a business. A stained
bathrobe, Char insists, is a wriler’s uniform —
"Like a Girl Guide,” che says — and the
Cheevies are merely perks of the business,
maybe cven tools of the trade,

with the supermarket
cauliflower? “Why that's aothing inure dian
econsutation,' she declares,
da it all the time. The only dif.
in wieff docsn’C tatk back,”

2. Pens, paring, and long
‘ttle to de with

ceremonies, designing the
Qrad invitations, programs
and tickats, Not surprising-
ly, she plans a career in
graphic arts,

RRACE STANDARD

MMUNITY