I have always wanted to have a more exciting occupation than accountant. If you tell someone you are a CPA they get visions of green eye shades and immediately think you are boring. Just for fun when asked what my occupation was I used to lie and say I was a spy. I gathered from the following article in The Washington Post that now if someone tells you a spy they may not be lying. May sure you click on the "continue reading button" so that you can read the entire article.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/?icid=main|htmlws-sb-n|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fprojects.washingtonpost.com%2Ftop-secret-america%2Farticles%2F
The above article caused so much concern that the Post felt the need to defend themselves from publishing it in a later article. Here is their defense:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100719/pl_yblog_upshot/washington-post-editor-defends-publishing-intelligence-complex-expose;_ylt=AqXhQK69vW5Tn.T_ktoY4iKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTVqa2oydWY5BGFzc2V0A3libG9nX3Vwc2hvdC8yMDEwMDcxOS93YXNoaW5ndG9uLXBvc3QtZWRpdG9yLWRlZmVuZHMtcHVibGlzaGluZy1pbnRlbGxpZ2VuY2UtY29tcGxleC1leHBvc2UEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM1BHBvcwMyBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDd2FzaGluZ3RvbnBv
Lots of questions today. Have you ever not want to tell people what your occupation is because you felt it was to boring? Ever wanted to be a spy? Does the first Washington Post article surprise you? Concern you? Do you think the Washington Post needed to defend themselves or should have they let the original article stand by itself?
WHO AM I?
I was born in 1941 as one of six children and I would later become one of a nine and a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded to me by the man that was the Governor of the state that I was born in. My dad worked as a dining car maintenance worker and Mom taught at a segregated state school for blind and deaf children, instructing them in how to wash and iron. The first time I tried to attend a certain high school we were refused admittance. While with the Guard's help I succeeded in my second attempt to enter that high school I was surrounded by an angry mob of four hundred people that threatened to lynch me. I was saved by a white woman. The next day the mob grew to a thousand people and the President sent in the troops for our protection. The troops stayed the entire school year but that didn't prevent me being thrown down a flight of stairs. All of the city's high schools closed the next year but I garnered enough credits in night school to graduate. I would go on to earn a B.S. degree in history and later serve five years in the Army. I also wrote for a couple of newspapers. After that I worked as a waitress, history teacher, welfare worker, unemployment and employment interviewer, and a military reporter. I would later jointly win an award with a high school classmate that was shown in a Counts' photograph screaming at me as I tried to break down a barrier and enter high school. During the reconciliation rally of 1997 we made speeches together. I am currently a probation officer in Little Rock and is the mother of two sons. Who Am I?
About Me
- William J.
- First, I think the birth sign is wrong. 6-21, some papers say Gemini, some Cancer. Guess that means I have so many personalities that I can do group therapy alone. For those that don't know how to read Google profiles I have put what I really mean in ( ). Hot (Good looking enough to be in movies(if I buy at ticket). A body like a God (Buddha). Romantic (Thinks begging is foreplay.) Physically fit (Heart trouble. Put 911 on speed dial before we get initmate.) Good Provider (has good life insurance in case you forget to put 911 on speed dial.) Loyal (has reference letters from Mom and parole officer.) Intelligent (scored 1600 on his SATS but you have to total the scores of the four times that I took the test.) Looking for someone compatible (Be between 30 & 99 and not inflatable.)
4 comments:
I was always happy enough to tell people what I did. When I was a medical sec'y and research assistant (which was my actual title), I always added that "research ass't" in there because it dignified the job. Then the university decided that only physicians could be called research ass'ts, so I lost the title. The job remained the same and so did the pittance I was paid, but I did miss that title.
When I got into various aspects of film editing, I was always happy to admit to it, but I did have to convince people that I never got to hobnob with movie stars.
The article, which I heard about on the radio, did surprise me. It concerns me only because I think such a mammoth enterprise must be unwieldy and a huge waste of money. I don't mind the Post defending itself if it was under attack.
Hi Pat
And Here I always thought you did hobknob with Chuck and the other stars!
I don't mind the Post defending itself, I just think it was unnecessary. I have always thought you stand behind your writing and let its stand for itself. Defending it changes the focus of the article from spying to the controversy.
Bill
Okay, I have to admit my eyes glazed after the first twelve or fourteen pages and I gave up on the article. But, I do agree with Pat it seems to me an unwieldy enterprise (as are so many government enterprises) and one that creates more confusion than accurate and effective information. If people aren't communicating and withholding info due to territorial imperative (which has ever been an issue - look at the war on drugs and agencies involved and not cooperating), what's the use of all the manpower and money?
I don't think I've ever fibbed about, or wanted to fib about what I did. Not that my jobs were terribly exciting. And, like Pat, I preferred it when the "title" of the job seemed to dignify what I did. Funny, how we sometimes let our work define us... maybe we'd be further ahead if no one ever asked what someone did, in terms of title, but rather in terms of living.
Hi DR
It was a long article and I read it in two sittings. What surprised me is the number of people and the amount of money that are involved and how much those numbers have increased over the past eight years.
Work does define us and always have. That is why so many of us have identity crises!
Bill
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