4. 42. 1624. 7. 232.
Any writing coach will tell you point blank that you must never start your essay (or column) with a number written as a figure. You will notice that I broke that rule (mostly for effect, of course).
If you must write a number, use words—so the above line should really look like the following: Four. Forty-two. One thousand, six hundred and twenty-four. Seven. And two hundred, thirty-two. (And by the way, Maurice, you will find these numbers scattered throughout this article.)
Another thing a good writing coach should have told you is to always write in complete sentences, expressing complete thoughts--not the way I just did. And again, I broke the rule for effect.
As one gets older, and (hopefully) more experienced, one can bend—maybe even break—some of those writing rules. Authors John Grisham and James Michener can get away with breaking any rule they want to—that's the advantage of being a success. Or in my case, being a tease.
Let me appear to change the subject for a moment: I have been alarmed at the violence, anarchy, and general mayhem in a given locale over the past many weeks. To date, there have been no deaths (so that rules Syria out as the mystery topic). And it doesn't involve the morons behind the “Occupy” movement, so that rules out any number of American and Canadian cities. And no there are no car bombs, suicide bombers, and like, so there goes the Middle East as an option.
No, unfortunately it is in our own fair country-- in the province of Quebec, no less. Under the guise of protesting a tuition hike, students and other factions—not unlike Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan— have banded together to foment the afore-mentioned violence, anarchy, and mayhem.
Because certain students were unhappy about paying a little more per year for their post-secondary education, they and their “friends” took to the streets, destroyed businesses, smashed windows, and forced several annual events to be canceled.
It was shameful to see all the property damage inflicted on the many shops and businesses in downtown Montreal recently. It's too bad so many good, solid citizens, who slave everyday to make an honest living, weren't accorded a little respect from the mindless hordes, who felt it was their God-given right to smash, grab, burn, and pillage.
The issue of tuition hike would be shocking, if, in fact, that was the real motivation for the mayhem. I seriously wonder what the real issue is. Over the course of seven years, the rate would increase gradually to $1624, or, for you accountant-types out there, it would be approximately $232 per year. If my math serves me correctly, over a twelve-month year, that is just pennies under @ 20 per month.
Let me write that again for you: $232 per year is what those ingrates are destroying public property over. How many Starbucks coffees, new jeans, movies, and iPhone bills does that amount to—on a monthly basis alone? These people have no right to demand a reversal of anything, especially a pittance of a $232 annual tuition hike.
I will say that they have a right to disagree with the Establishment, and to sit down and talk things over. If these children had acted responsibly, the outcome could have been quite different. If they ever get a job in Quebec, how would they react to poor working conditions, doing tasks they didn't like, or not getting the pay raise as soon as they expected? Will they smash, grab, burn, and pillage until they get what they want?
I have no problem with peaceful protests at all: I've done my anti-abortion thing over the years; I was present at one of two historic protests against the provincial government recently, as we rallied for parental rights and freedom of educational priorities.
When one gets an “education,” one purpose should be to make a difference in the workplace. There are lots of fresh fraces with fresh ideas making positive changes in their new vocations.
Hopefully, unlike the academic anarchists, they won't go out and trash the staff room because the coffee's too hot.
No comments:
Post a Comment