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Trouble is, they all want you to write another column about mechanics,_and put some real meat into it. This means. in effect, that they would happily stand in the wings and applaud when you were sued for libel. Fair game for the hardhitter are: garage mechanics, plumbers, postal workers, supermarkets, civil servants, and politicians. Most of them can't hit back, and everybody hates them, except garage mechanics and their wives, plumbers and their wives, etc. etc. "e Smaller fry are doctors, lawyers, teachers, used car sales- men. They all squeal like dying rabbits when attacked, but nobody pays much attention to them except doctors and their wives, etc. etc. 7 Some readers would like you to be constantly attacking whatever it is that they don't like. Capitalist friends are aghast when you refuse to launch an assault on capital gains taxes. Welfarist friends think you are a traitor and a fink when you won't attack the government for not providing col- or TV for everyone on the take. I am not by nature an attacker, and I think there is nothing more boring than a writer of any kind who tries to make a career of being a , 'hard hitting" journalist. Once in a while my gently bubbling nature boils over. Throwing caution and syntax to the winds, I let my spleen have a field day and try to throw some sand in the grease with which many aspects of society are trying to give us a snow job. And that's one of the finest paragraphs I've ever written, if mixed metaphors are your bag. There are a few areas that even the hardest-hitters avoid. When have you, lately, read a savage attack on greedy farmers, callous nurses, or unloving mothers? And yet, there are lots of them around. One of these days, perhaps, one of these hard hitting writ- ers will muster enough guts, after about five brandies, to launch an all-out attack on the audacity of women, thinking they're as good as men. Boy, that fellow will learn what real hard hitting is all about. I emphasized the "personal" satisfaction because there's a lot more of that involved than there is of the other kind, financial satisfaction. Columnists and freelance writers have no union working for them, nor any professional as- sociation, as have doctors, lawyers, teachers. They have only their ewn talent and wit and persever- ance with which to penetrate the thick heads and thicker skins of editors and publishers. But it's a great feeling when you vent your wrath, Bay, about the rapaciousness of mechanics, and you are button- holed six times in the next three days by people with horror stories about mechanics you can scarcely believe. Personally, I can't stay mad at anybody long enough to be a voice of the people, or a public watchdog, or any of those obnoxious creatures who try to tell other people how they should feel. sure " guns, though she thought you were one of nature's noblemen for your assault on male chauvinism last week, she'll turn on you like a snake when she reads tomorrow’s paper, with the column exposing female chauvinism. Speaking recently to a class of potential writers in a cre- ative writing course, I tried to pass along the personal satis- faction one gets from this type of personal journalism. The only constant in my rage is the blatant manipulation of self-seeking politicians who will twist and warp and wriggle and squirm and bribe for self-perpetuation in office. Best example at the moment is the Tory government in Ontario, which has called a totally unnecessary election in that prov- ince through sheer hunger for greater power. fhteA!heepestisatistactimtainwritingacohunnot this kind is the knowledge that you are getting into print the angers and frustrations of a lot of other people, who have no recourse for their resentments, and consequently tetheytoutotttheoidrnanoettteoutaiiy. How do you know this? Well, because people write you letters cheering you on to further attacks. and other people come up to you, perfect strangers, shake hands warmly, and say "By the Holy Ole Jumpin! Bill, you really hit the nail on the head. ,, -e This can be a little disconcerting, as you are never quite sure which nail they are referring to. If the congratyUtor is a woman.) urnile yen“! and ehange the subject. Because Otherwise, I get a great deal more joy from touching the individual life than inflaming the masses. When I get a let- ter from an old lady in hospital, crippled with arthritis, who has managed to get a chuckle out of my column, it makes me feel good. i Recently. I got a letter from a young Scot who has immi- grated to Canada. He says: “I have learned more about Canada and Canadians through reading your column than all the accumulated wisdom from the Canadian newsmaga- zines, novels and TV programs I have absorbed." Now there is a man with his head screwed on right. If I, as a newcomer. tried to get my impressions of this country from newsmagazines and TV programs, I'd catch the first boat or plane home So. I guess rll just try to go on talking to people. getting sore. having some fun. bragging about my grandboys, look- ing for sympathy in the war between the sexes. That's what life is all about. not plumbers and politicians and other horrors of that ilk, Peeple You can do more when you’re on the team than when" tttwht alttlllllt..,,.,,t,,.s, in the Heathers. 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