‘B’ is for ‘Barky’
October 2018, Montreal
Dear Doug,
I’m scribing this note to you at 3a.m. as a means of avoiding work on my thesis. I hate my thesis.
At the time I constructed it, it was simply the least worst of the three I had come up with 18 months in, I cannot see how I’ll have the conviction to defend it when it’s ‘done’.
But my thesis is not what I’m writing you about. It’s my student loan, the other thing I don’t have the conviction to defend. After my BA, MA and PHD, I’ll owe you and the FEDS about $75k. That’s a lot for a first-year history teacher to pay off. That’s what I plan to do, teach history at high school. Not my dream job, but I’ve done the research and Freelance Historian is not viable, income-wise.
Doug, our family dog is on his last legs. Mom says it’s either pay for the dog’s operation or help out with my 2nd term tuition. So guess who’s going to die while if I avoid my thesis on ‘Homophobia in the Canadian Labour Movement’? Multiple choice:
A] Sven Robinson
B] Barky
C] Me
D] The Alt-Right Puppets of Multinational Corporate Interests
It’s B Doug. B, for Barky.
so I’m going to do a season of tree-planting to get some serious cash while I’m applying for teaching jobs. That’s because you cut OSAP by 40% and eliminated the 6 month grace period before student loan interest becomes due, DOUG. I hope you don’t totally gut OHIP before then, because I may need treatment for my back and knees.
The good news is that Veronique says she’ll come tree-planting too, which means we’ll have another long while before we have to tell our families. I’m glad Barky won’t be around for that extraordinary family matter.
Or maybe Veronique and I will get jobs out west afterward; then we could put ‘The Talk ‘ off for a while longer. I don’t think they’re cutting teaching jobs in British Columbia.. YET.
Anyway, thanks for letting me talk this out. [wow. Freudian slip much?]
Best,
Angela