Black Hole....!

So lately I've been wondering if I'm in a black hole. Things have been happening that make me want to look around and ask, "Am I on some sort of candid camera?"

First of all, I've received two traffic tickets in the last two weeks. I got one almost three years ago in Beaver...for going 84 in a 75. Yeah, I didn't think that was funny. But I've been patiently waiting three years for that to disappear from my record. And then two weeks ago I got a ticket for making a slightly erroneous judgement call and sliding through a barely-red light. We've all done it. Some of us more than once. But I called the Sandy court and I will be heading to traffic school next week to clear that ticket, so I could still have my coveted clean record. But then on Tuesday of this week, I got pulled over again. I saw the flashing lights behind me and thought there was no way he was pulling me over...AGAIN? But he was. And the violation? Not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. I was completely floored when he came up to my window. I looked at him blankly when he told me the violation, and then asked if he was serious. He didn't think that was funny. (Nor was I trying to be funny. I was just starting to wonder what dimension I was in.)

So apparently I have a problem with intersections where one must stop. (Never mind the speeding that I do on a regular basis through construction zones.) The crappy thing really was that I was actually doing my best to watch my driving and fix my illegal habits. Oh, well. I'm getting over it. But that clean driving record will elude me again for three years...

Now for work. I'm a writer. And I'm pretty sure that means I'm supposedly the expert on writing in the office. When I get assigned to a project it's usually to do, oh, I don't know, the writing? I get irritated when road signs or flyers are written badly. I unconsciously edit just about everything I read. I spend my efforts at work improving and working on a certain tone, style, technique, and skill that allow me to effectively communicate the message that the company wants to communicate. I get paid for that. It's my job. Get the picture?

I was working on a brochure recently. We were right up against the print deadline when the design department suddenly huddles together and decides that they don't like some of the text. It apparently did not flow well with their design. I was baffled. I don't ever look at the layout and go back and tell them I don't like it, or that it "doesn't work" with my copy. After all, I'm writing the message we want to send. They just make it look nice. Right? Well, apparently I'm wrong. Long story short, I put up a fight, but after they pulled in the big guns (i.e., executive member), I ended up rewriting what they wanted. But oh...that chaffed.

And today I got another one. I had been working on a short article for our Events department. I had written it, rewritten it, and rewritten it after a meeting with them (and that same executive member mentioned above) where they nailed down exactly what they wanted to say. I put their ideas into an article. But today they sent it back. One of their guys just didn't really feel like the article was capturing the "vision." So, he rewrote it. REWROTE IT. They sent it back to me to see if it was okay. Now, the man who rewrote it is a fantastic event coordinator and designer. He creates incredible presentations, stage layouts, and show flows. However, I believe this goes to show that everyone believes they're a writer. When I got his "rewrite," it was a mess. I'll have to start over.

So I have to ask: why am I here? If EVERYONE thinks they can write, why do they pay me?

I really did start looking around at that point and wonder if I had somehow slipped into some other dimension. No wait...I didn't. That's just my life.

Posted by Marsie at March 12, 2004 04:50 PM