Sophie's Story

     Like every football fan I have players and coaches that I like and a few that I dislike. Unlike a lot of sports fans I have different criteria. I like talented players and I like players that are fun to watch. Unlike a lot of fans, I also like players and coaches who know how to win and lose graciously and who have a little class.   I know that I'm about to be branded with the grumpy, middle aged woman tag and I don't care. I would like to know what is wrong with being gracious and showing a little class. It's becoming more fashionable to be rude, dismissive and blame the officials for bad calls. A player who gives an interview that belittles an opponent gets a lot more attention than a player who talks about how the other team simply outplayed them/ made less mistakes or were able to capitalize on opportunities. Everyone watches what happens at the end of the game to see if the star player leaves the field before the game is over. Maybe one coach will refuse to sha

  Many years ago my mother introduced me to a young woman named Kori. Kori was about my age and was working as a reporter for a local newspaper. My mother thought Kori needed a friend as she was new to the area and we seemed to have a few things in common. We hung around each other and became friends.   We never had that much in common though. Kori liked to run around and chase men. I was much more quiet and reserved. The party and bar scene just wasn't for me. I was starting my pharmacy career and was still learning a lot of things. I worked long hours and was not interested in a guy unless he could hold a good conversation and was mostly sober.   I continued to hang around Kori because she brought me out of my comfort zone. I also thought that she needed a real friend. Someone who would be honest with her. Someone she could trust. I also thought she needed someone who could be a voice of reason. Some of the guys she dated were jerks. I remember she dated one guy who kicked he

   For all of you who read the last column that I wrote, the man that was robbing pharmacies has been caught.   A few weeks ago I got a card in the mail. It was a pharmacy announcing open positions at various places. One of those places was Bismarck, North Dakota. I looked longingly at the card. It had been a hard week. I was feeling tired, crowded and stressed. North Dakota would be a nice place to live.   I used to live in North Dakota. That's where I went to school and except for one short period, I was happy there. Even though I haven't lived there in 20 years I still sometimes miss it. I miss the open spaces. I miss the people. Most of all I miss the wind.   Don't get me wrong. I love St. Paul. C and I live a good life here. Once in awhile though, I think longingly of the wind and wish I was back there again.   One of the first vacations I took was to drive out west. I had a route planned. I drove to Fargo, then across the state to visit a friend. I doubled back

   When I graduated from pharmacy school, several employers came to a job fair offered at college. One of them was a pharmacy located in a very large city. The salary they were offering was handsome and there were a few perqs as well. I gave the job a causal look. Despite the salary and benefits I elected not to try for it.   There were many reasons. I would have had to move pretty far away. The city I would be living in was much larger than anyplace I'd ever lived before. Those were not the most important reasons. I would be working mainly behind protective bars and one of the benefits was an armed escort to my car when my shift was over.   I went into pharmacy because I wanted to help people. I wasn't going to be able to help them behind any kind of protective anything. I also didn't want to live the kind of life where I would need an armed person to guard me.   We all knew coming out of school that there were dangers working in retail. We had all heard stories abou

   It never ceases to amaze me how small things can have a large impact later on. Let me tell you what happened to me on another Wednesday afternoon 11 years ago.    It was a warm January day. Warm for this time of year anyway. When the winter weather is that nice there is only one thing you can do. Go out. I was living in a small town in Wisconsin and decided to cross the river into Minnesota and walk around another town there.  Once I got there I stopped into a few shops and most likely made a few purchases. I walked along by the river and enjoyed the lovely weather and the fresh air.   Several of the shops had an ad for a small coffee shop on the edge of the business district. It was built into the caves in that area. It also had a strange name. I was always looking for new places to try out. I also prefer to patronize locally owned businesses.   When I got inside there was one person ahead of me. I didn't mind. I looked at the drink menu to see what was available. I deci

   C and I watched the movie "The Way Way Back" recently. C had seen this movie before and enjoyed it. He wanted me to see it too. It was a good movie although not one that I'd want to watch over and over again. C told me that part of the reason why he liked it was because it was more realistic. He did have a point.    There was one thing about it that really bothered me. The movie is about a boy spending a summer vacation with his mother and his mother's boyfriend in a beach town somewhere. The beginning of the movie starts out with the boyfriend asking the boy, on a a scale of one to ten, how he saw himself. The boy is obviously uncomfortable and chooses not to answer. The boyfriend keeps pressing the issue until the boy chooses six. Then the boyfriend proceeds to tell the boy that he thinks a three would be a better answer. The rest of the movie was littered with instances where the boyfriend is subtlety abusive to the boy.   The reason why this bugs me is beca

   A few days ago C and I watched the best sports movie ever. It's called 'Hoosiers'. If you haven't watched it, you should. Even if you don't like sports in general or basketball in particular, watch it anyway. There is something for everyone. (Unless you enjoy violence, there's no violence or gore in this movie.)    The movie is about Norman Dale, who comes to the small town of Hickory ,Indiana to coach the high school basketball team. Norman has a bit of a checkered past. He was a successful college basketball coach in New York, but one with a temper. In the last college game he coached, he hit one of his players which earned him a permanent suspension from coaching in the state. He went into the Navy and became a Chief Petty Officer.   Ten years later Norman's friend,Clete who is a high school principal, finds Norman and hires him to coach the basketball team. While Clete is showing Norman around the school, Norman thanks Clete for what he has done.