Hiroshima

In journalism class we were assigned to read the book Hiroshima by John Hersey. I am glad I read it because I thought the overall book itself was very good and the stories were something I hadn't known before about the atomic bomb's victims.

I thought Hersey's idea was great. The people affected and their stories. We're always taught to have real people in our stories in journalism so the reader can connect, and he did it very well. I think this a great example that journalists can learn from.

The story recalls what happened through the eyes of the victims, not of the americans who dropped the bomb - which is the most commonly known story. I think it was good of Hersey to reach onto the other side because otherwise we would never know how they felt.

In one part of the story there are details about someones skin peeling off their hand. That's what you remember, not the name of some guy in a plane dropped a bomb that killed thousands of people. Hersey talks about what people care about - feelings.

The only parts I didn't like were the structure. I thought the sentences were too long, the paragraphs were confusing and the type was so small it was hard to keep track of everything. The names were all similar too so hard to follow, but there's a cultural difference for you.

Freelance is your friend

Last week I wrote a freelance piece for the Winnipeg Free Press Sunday Xtra. It was posted online and was on a page by itself (A3), and had a little banner on the front page of the paper. Seeing my name (and face) on a piece of that size in a publication like the WFP was a feeling unlike I've ever felt before.


It was posted online (I just found it Monday morning) here is the link to it: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Blurred-vision-134221368.html. To get the full effect with the photo etc, you'll have to read the actual paper copy.


The WFP gave it a headline of Blurred Vision, here it is:

He told me he was OK to drive. “I’m fine, I didn’t drink that much,” he said. I believed him.

A group of us sat in his car trying to warm up before leaving the parking lot. It was cold outside and we were just happy to be getting a “safe” ride home.

He backed out smoothly. The drive started off slow. We turned out of the parking lot onto the road. That’s when it hit me: he was lying when he said he wasn’t drunk.

My house was only five minutes away but it felt like longer. He swerved in and out of parked cars, sped up to stop signs and turned so sharp I thought I was going to fly out the window.

We finally got to my house. I got out of the car. My heart was racing. I said to myself, “I’m never doing that again.”

Many young people do, though — every weekend. Jane, an 18-year-old college student, says she has gotten into a car with someone she knew was drunk. None of her friends ever volunteer to be the designated driver, she says.

“I’m too broke to take a taxi. Nobody ever wants to be the sober one. We usually walk but I did get in a car with someone I knew was drunk. Now that I think about it, it was scary. At the time though I didn’t feel like anything was wrong. I just wanted to get home.”

Brian, a 22-year-old university student, hasn’t only been in a car when the driver was drunk, he’s been the driver.

“I have driven drunk before,” he says. “It doesn’t matter how many drinks I have, as long as I feel in control I will still drive my car. If I don’t drive like an idiot chances are, I won’t get caught.”

He says he doesn’t feel guilty about driving impaired.

“I always get home safe when I drive after the bar,” he said. “I’ve never been in an accident and I don’t feel bad about it. Like I said, I always feel like I’m in control.”

His story is similar to others I’ve seen and heard. People don’t seem to be afraid of getting caught — especially when they still feel like they’re “in control”.

But how in control of your motor skills can you really be after having six or seven alcoholic drinks? As a 21-year-old social butterfly, I’ve been to the bar more times than I’d like to admit — and I’ve seen more people driving impaired than I’d like to admit.

I’ve witnessed people walking out of the bar with their keys in their hands, stumbling to their cars, getting in and driving away. I always wish that people would see the dangers and find another way home.

People often complain that taxis are expensive but that’s only one way to get home. Winnipeg Transit often runs until one or two in the morning and bus fare is less than $3. Operation Red Nose (which kicks off next weekend; phone 947-6673) will pick you up and drive you home in your car for free during the holiday season.

It’s a good way to avoid another holiday tradition: The Winnipeg Police Service check stop program, which kicks off at the start of December. Officers set up random check stops and pull cars over to screen for impaired driving. 

Last holiday season, 98 people were charged with impaired driving — 72 per cent more than were charged in 2009.

But even the police check stops don’t scare some people. I’ve overheard people at the bar talking about where check stops are. They know which routes to drive home to avoid them. 

People are always connected to each other through Twitter, Facebook, BBM and text messaging. These resources make it easy to find out where the police are stationed and how to avoid getting caught at a check stop.

Shaylene Handford has the best solution to not getting caught: don’t do it. She started Sober Ride this year, an awareness program to battle impaired driving in Winnipeg. 

The program gets drivers to take the Sober Ride pledge and put a sticker in their car window. The decal is a representation of the car owner’s pledge to only allow sober driving in their car.

Handford said she started the program after being personally affected through her line of work and in her personal life. 

“I want to help make a difference and take a stand on a topic that still some people don’t fully understand,” she said. 

Since starting the program more than 500 people have taken the Sober Ride pledge. Handford said the program is developing daily and she hopes the pledge makes a difference one person at a time.

Between awareness programs, MADD, police actions and stories of people dying because of drunk driving (two young people died last weekend in crashes in which alcohol was believed to be a factor) you’d think people would stop drinking and driving. But the initiatives don’t seem to be working. 

I don’t know why they’re not working. The one think I know that does work is enforcement. The only time I ever saw someone decide not to drive drunk by getting out of their car and calling for a ride was when the police were sitting at the front door of the bar. Perhaps police should keep the check stop program running all year. But unfortunately, they can’t be everywhere. Some night after hitting the bar, Jane, and Brian, may have to make a responsible decision all on their own.

Lost Stories

When I was a young kid I picked up a photo in my grandparents’ room and asked, “who is this?”

It was my grandpa - but I didn’t believe my grandma when she first told me. I said, “no way Grandma, that’s not what Grandpa looks like!”

When I knew him he was a big balding man who wore velcro shoes and plaid shirts. He liked hunting and fishing and made the best cookies and peanut brittle I’d ever eaten. He loved ice cream and his Lazy Boy chair. 

The man in the photo was a boy. He was thin and had a serious look on his face. Oh, and he had hair! He was in uniform. It was a photo when my grandpa was in the army. But I didn’t realize what it meant until he died in 1998.

My grandparents lived in a small town in the Interlake of Manitoba called Steep Rock. It was a beautiful place to live and you could walk to lake Manitoba from their house in less than a minute. The population deteriorated in the late 90’s and when my grandpa died my grandma decided to move to Winnipeg because she didn’t want to live alone. 

I remember going through all the things in the garage (there was a lot) and finding my grandpa's old army things. That's when it became real to me.

Seeing my dad become emotional over finding my grandpa's army things made me realize that not only was my grandpa in the army but he fought for our freedom.

I asked my dad to tell me stories about my grandpa's time in the army but he said he didn't know any. I was confused as to how that could happen but he explained that my grandpa didn't like to talk about it. Yes, he was proud that he fought for freedom but I think the experiences he had weren't positive ones and he didn't want to share. 

Another thing I found out was that he didn't join the army voluntarily like it is now. He was the right age at the right time and I wouldn't say he was forced to join but it was something he didn't have much of a choice about.

My grandma told me she worried all the time - which made me think that he was probably on the battlefield. I just wish I knew more about his history. 

Soon there won't be any WW2 veterans left to tell their stories which is such an important thing. My grandpa's stories are lost, but we need to find the ones that are left and tell them - if they are willing. 

That's what is important about Remembrance Day. It's to honour why we live in a free country. Soldiers. It's so sad that a lot of them have traumatic experiences and don't want to share them because their stories are Canadian history. Let's make sure that we don't lose our history. 

Sick Journalist

These days I find that I am so run down from everything I'm doing that my immune system isn't as strong as it normally is. This morning I woke up with a lovely cold - probably the third one I've had since school started.

Then I started thinking to myself, what would happen if I was working my dream job and had to be on air today with this gross stuffy nose, constant sneezing (okay, I sneeze a lot anyways) and weird voice. Would they let me go on or would I have to call in sick even though I feel pretty okay.

So my assumption of what would happen is I would probably let them know that I have a runny nose and itchy eyes and they'd tell me I can't go on air. (This is just my make believe scenario, I don't really know what would happen) Then I'd either be sent home or to the control room and people would shift around their jobs. Hopefully the producer is ready to go on air!

If I was sent home I would feel horribly guilty. Just from the one time we had to do mini newscasts in Broadcast J I realize how important every person is to the show and if I got sent home that would mean somebody else would have to do my job, and then down the road somebody would have to do two jobs. I can't imagine having to do two jobs at once during a live newscast.

What about if I was a journalist working at a newspaper/online/magazine? That probably wouldn't matter as long as I had a big box of kleenex because nobody has to see me - I'd have to make sure to do my interviews over the phone though.

So what is my solution to never having to face this problem? I'm going to drink orange juice every morning and have a lot of Vitamin C and if I feel a cold coming on, Cold FX is my friend.

What would you guys do if you had an annoying little cold and had to go out on the job as a reporter?