disgruntled designer? post error message on cube

the office, circa. 1959

Seeing Bette Davis double feature at a theater the other night reminded me of how much better women of a certain economic strata had it in the old days: afternoon "beauty naps", closetsful of great looking "outfits" (no mom jeans), handsome hardbox luggage to haul the outfits around whenever you travelled, (of course, plenty of willing others to do the actual hauling, for coin tips), a maid AND a housekeeper being de rigueur, even if it was just you and a spouse living in a tiny house in Vermont.

For working women (meaning women without husbands), it was a different story. Only a few jobs were actually open to you: nurse, teacher, domestic labor, sales clerk, secretary. And just one business countenanced female execs--publishing. The only way to break in was as a secretary (NOT an admin) which basically meant being slave to your boss' whims and idiosyncrasies. This could be most daunting in the rare event your boss was a woman as illustrated by Joan Crawford in The Best of Everything who supposedly was the model Streep followed for The Devil Wears Prada. Anything that requires a personal reply goes here... not here, or here, but.. here...

for temporary relief of stress caused by onset of day in advertising

You'll think I am obsessed by blogs written by doctors, and maybe I am. In our business, if you have a bad day, an ad dies. But what docs have on the line is an actual person. I have to admire the cojones it takes to assume a job with that kind of responsibility.

Just as people make false assumptions about our work ("it's so creative"), I tend to imbue doctors with the unceasing reverence for the human body, the awe I imagine I'd feel in their shoes, if charged with reviving people instead of brand images. But docs who blog have disavowed me of this-- of course they joke on the job like everyone else does, albeit usually to other docs, not to their distressed patients. Their (sometimes sophomoric) humor in the face of medical emergency has the tonic effect of making my bad day seem a bit less horrific.

Like this post about a woman who came in with her arm rotated all the way around at the elbow which will make you feel better about whatever twisted brief you're working on today. (For xrays and complete writeup, see ER Stories.)

Here was a disturbing case we saw today. A middle aged lady made a diving save on the tennis court to make her point but fell hard on her elbow. Her arm was COMPLETELY twisted around at the elbow 180 degrees. It looked like is should have belonged to Plastic Man! YEOWCH!!! Luckily she had a good pulse and good range of motion of her hand.

She was amazingly in not that much pain considering how awful her arm looked. However the fracture was open (ie compound) and was going to need to go to the OR soon. Of course the ortho guy was over an hour away so we had to try to reduce it a bit. It took a BIG haematoma block (injecting lidocaine directly into the fracture) and a twisting of the arm that made sounds disturbing enough to make the strongest stomach turn. Good thing we rotated it back the normal way and not around accidentally for another twist! LOL

sue, get a grip!

Sue Simmons, a 30-year veteran of TV news in New York, startled viewers on Monday night when she shouted the F word on the 10 o'clock news. Looking duly abashed, she apologized on the 11 PM news "for saying a word that many people find offensive." But what did co-anchor Chuck do to provoke her? Richard Wald, a former president of NBC News observes unenlighteningly: "Live television requires a great deal of concentration, and I guess her concentration must have slipped.”

Last year, more than her concentration slipped when she fell out of her chair on camera.

Is Simmons losing her balance due to cocktails she reportedly downs between the 5PM and 10PM news? Or is the station providing opportunities for her to mess up often enough for them to fire her? (She purportedly thought the cameras were off when she reamed Chuck on Monday.) According to Newsday, there have been widespread reports that Channel 4 is looking to cut expensive anchor talent, and after Scarborough -- the highest-paid local anchor in the country -- Simmons is next on the network food chain.

very bad day at the office

TJ in Syracuse is only 24 years old. But his montage seems the work of someone who's held a desk job for years. Music is, appropriately, Bad Day by Daniel Powter. (via Papa Jon, thanks!)