What It Is (posts below left; rate sheet, client list, other stuff below right)

My name is Bob Land. I am a full-time freelance editor and proofreader, and occasional indexer. This blog is my website.

You'll find my rate sheet and client list here, as well as musings on the life of a freelancer; editing, proofreading, and indexing concerns and issues; my ongoing battles with books and production; and the occasional personal revelation.

Feel free to contact me directly with additional questions: landondemand@gmail.com.

Thanks for visiting. Leave me a comment. Come back often.

Monday, January 16, 2012

An Oldie but Goodie: Proofreading and MLK Day


Quick story:

I went to college in Atlanta (and stayed for another 17 years), and my first job out of college was proofreading airline timetables and lottery tickets at a printing plant. In 1981 or 1982, MLK Day was not yet a federal holiday, but Georgia had made it a state holiday. The powers-that-be at the plant considered shutting down the plant and offices for the holiday, but the pressmen and compositors -- a pretty redneck bunch, quite frankly -- didn't exactly like the idea. By any means. 

So, in fairness to the competing cultures at the plant, it was put to a vote: do we give folks a day off for MLK Day or Confederate Memorial Day? Yes, you read that right.

Thus it ended up that this nice Jewish boy from New York City, whose forebears didn't see US shores until the late 19th century, received a day off with pay for Confederate Memorial Day. Democracy in action.

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