Thursday, June 18, 2009

They like me, they really like me!

I was interviewed yesterday by a freelance writer for Trinity's alumni magazine, The Reporter. The quarterly publication is just like every other alumni magazine out there - it focuses on two different types of alums -
    1) rich types who give lots of money to the school because they've got some messed up nostalgia about the college years

    2) mega-accomplished types who build HIV clinics in Africa when they're not climbing Mount Everest or finding a cure for cancer.

Now clearly, I am not rich, obsessed with Trinity or curing cancer. So why would they want to talk to someone like me?

Because in celebration of 40 years of coeducation at Trinity, they wanted to write an article focusing on "real" women, women who face the daily stresses of work and family - not killer viruses and high altitude.

Alright, that's worth something. I might not be important, but "real" isn't a bad alternative. An article that celebrates the rest of us is a noble idea, right?

And so we spent an hour and a half together, this freelancer and I. In that time, I'm quite sure I confused her with my philosophies on parenting (benign neglect is easily misunderstood) and feminism (remember my rally against the whole 'time for yourself' notion?).

Still, confused or not, she did a good job of trying to make me feel special, even arguing with my long-held notion that I'm essentially unremarkable, in the most literal sense of the word. By the end, I even started to feel just a little bit ... important.

Like I said, she did a good job. And I almost bought it.

But, apparently, my remarkable real life experience is only worth 300 words.

I should just send her this blog.

1 comments:

Slender Gardener said...

Hey! Refreshing. Maybe the quarterly update from my college will have a real woman article about those of us in the sandwhich generation. Perhaps soon we'll see words about those who can get their daughter to softball in the correct team jersey AND drive their mom to the ADLI.