Two unrelated vignettes that offer glimpses into how my offspring interact with the world:
A few years back, Glory saved enough of her own money to pay for half of the digital SLR camera she wanted. Since then she has taken some photography classes in high school but she is more interested in landscapes than the portraiture they tend to focus on. She is going on a biology field trip to the Bamfield Marines Sciences Centre on Vancouver Island at month-end and isn't even bringing her good camera because of the room it takes (and fear of water damage).
She remains fascinated by vintage cameras though, something Audrey and I have encouraged in gifts we have found in antique shops in our travels and one from a lovely neighbour. Knowing myself at that age, I steeled myself for the possibility of these old devices disappearing into a drawer until she rediscovered them at an older age (and possibly in her own living space). After all, what teenager is interested in antiques?
On the contrary though; she has practically enshrined them on a shelf in her room.
In case you were wondering, they are a Kodak Jiffy II bellows camera from the 1940s, an Imperial Deluxe twin-lens reflex camera (1950s), and a Mercury II with a rotary shutter from the mid-40s. I also love the flashbulb garland she's strung around them!
Despite the frustrations that modern technology in general and the interwebs, in particular, can often hold for my wife, she has proven adept at determining the provenance of items such as these and even managed to track down PDFs of original owner's manuals for some of them. I doubt she will ever recondition them enough to take pictures with them, but the obvious veneration she holds for these nostalgic cameras is a pleasant surprise.
Fenya's story changes the perspective from how one sees images to the image one is seen as. Wait, that's terrible English - let me start over.
Our eldest is wrapping up her second year of university and is looking at taking an internship next year before continuing her studies. She sent out a considerable stack of resumes and received four interview invitations in fairly rapid succession, which was obviously highly encouraging.
Despite the fact that my last "cold" interview was over a decade ago, she asked my help in preparing for some of them, which I found highly flattering. In particular, she had received a fair bit of background material from the Office of the Student Ombuds at the University of Alberta, and we spent a pretty solid evening looking at it and discussing it, as well as the case study they had provided. It was pretty heavy stuff, and I guess the preparation helped, as she not only got the gig but the longer term of the two positions being offered.
It turns out that one of her colleagues from the Peer Support Centre had done the exact same internship and said it was the highlight of her undergrad years. Better still, she told Fenya she would be a fantastic fit for the job but warned her that she would need to take steps to present herself as a working professional and not as a fellow student. "Even more so," she underscored, "because you look so young too."
Fenya had already grabbed some office wear from V.V. Boutique prior to the interview and could supplement that once she got a couple of paycheques under her belt, but her bookbag presented a problem. Nothing says "student" quite like a backpack stuffed with papers and a lunch sack, so she was advised to get either a briefcase or business-lookin' tote of some kind before starting on May 1.
Before she could even determine if V.V. could come through again, one of the people she had gone to China with last year came through for her. Having overheard her lament regarding business-style totewear, he related how he had received one free with a Chapters purchase that was a tad too effeminate for his own use, but which she was welcome to. She picked it up today while studying for finals on campus.
I remember using a briefcase I had inherited from my dad on my first few summer office jobs during university, but they are now not only a bit worse for wear, but also woefully out of style. I'm glad Fenya was able to procure one from a friend, and on a student-friendly budget, too (i.e. free to a good home). One less thing to worry about as she wraps up her exams and prepares for a year on the job in a challenging but intriguing position!
Every time I share something featuring the girls on Instagram, I can count on a couple of my coworkers telling me how beautiful they are. Which, you know, fair enough, and I haven't yet seen the need to purchase a shotgun or menacing piece of vintage cutlery to hang over the door or anything. It's gratifying and I do always try to be gracious, but on the inside I am always thinking, man, that isn't even the third or fourth coolest thing about them! Whtether looking at the past or at their own futures, I continue to be amazed by their perception.
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