Making a spectacle

I wear glasses. Do they make me look brainy? Do I look a bit dim without them?  I'm not sure.  Sarah Palin clearly thinks that people take you more seriously if you wear specs.

I have different pairs to suit different circumstances and contacts for when I want to go naked (as it were). But no matter which frame shape I'm wearing I'm aware of being typecast. 

Glasses = authority figure. Or so it seems.

And, of course, if I let my glasses slip down my nose a little and look over the frame I instantly become the authority figure. Strict, no nonsense, possibly a bit of a disciplinarian.
I'm a sucker for it when it's done to me (the over-the-frame look makes me go weak at the knees). But it's also a neat trick to be able to do - and one that isn't available to you bare-faced folk.

Newspaper ethics addressed

Half listening to the radio a moment ago and an interviewee used the phrase "extremely strict regime". My attention locked on to what she was saying - it turned out she was talking about editorial standards at Rupert Murdoch's new Sunday paper.

But my imagination was off... "You'll find, Miss Willings, that you will be subject to an extremely strict regime of oversight while you're working with us," the Editor said, as they crossed the open plan newsroom.

Sarah paused and looked around her as her new boss strode on ahead. She was used to working in newspaper newsrooms, but found The Daily Bugle's a rather strange one - little noise, heads down and no banter.

The Editor looked back, found she had fallen behind and said: "Come along, keep up please..."

Stung into action by the steely tone Sarah hurried to fall into step as they moved into a corridor of glass-fronted office cubicles and meeting rooms. When they arrived at the open door to the Editor's office she heard a loud crack, followed by a cry that was somewhere between a curse and a howl.

It seemed to Sarah to be a female voice and to come from the room opposite the Editor's door. Unlike others along the corridor its door was wood rather than glass and was shut; a small 'do not disturb' notice was hanging from the door handle.

Sarah was puzzled by the sound. Her first thought was that someone had hit their thumb with a hammer. Building work, maybe?

But then that sound again, this time followed by a long, howl of discomfort. She looked to the Editor questioningly. "As I said, Bugle standards are high. Reporters are subject to an extremely strict regime..."

Quiet please!

I can remember when librarians were strict. Strict. no-nonsense. Talk once and you got The Look, usually over a pair of steel-framed spectacles. Talk a second time and you were out, no second chances.

So, I was surprised by my trip to the local library today. First time in ages, I thought I'd take my laptop in and do some work using some of the reference books for research.

But the place was crowded and everybody seemed to be so noisy. The librarian was younger and better looking than I expect librarians to be, but the guy just didn't have the right stuff. No way he could do The Look - not a strict bone in his body.

I didn't get much work done. I just couldn't concentrate. I did, however, spend some time mulling over how strict an old-style librarian could have been. Clearly CP would have been out of the question in an environment where silence was at a premium, but after hours there'd have been nobody to hear the smack of implement on bare bottom, the squeals, the begging...