Jennifer Makes an Entrance
by Daniel Wibel

Many women in business experience the proverbial "glass ceiling," but my friend Jennifer, a court reporter, encountered a glass wall in the pursuit of her career.

One morning, Jen called me in a panic: she had an appointment at 9:30, and her car wouldn't start - could I please come? I picked her up and immediately, Murphy's law went into effect: traffic was in a snarl, the directions were wrong, and we got lost. By the time we arrived in the parking garage, it was near 10.

We ran for the elevator in the building's lobby, which we rode to the seventeenth floor. The doors opened, revealing a reception desk on the right and a large, seemingly open conference room filled with attorneys and witnesses directly ahead. Jennifer rushed out of the elevator with me trailing behind. She hurried across the reception area and proceeded to do something out of a slapstick comedy: at full speed, she ran smack into the thick, sliding glass panel that separated the conference room from the rest of the office, bounced off the glass, and landed on the floor in a heap of papers and equipment, her skirt up around her waist, revealing far more than is considered professionally acceptable. Her full-body slam resulted in a deafening "bong-ong-ong-ong" that vibrated and resonated throughout the offices.

After a moment of stunned silence, the people in the room began to snicker, and then everyone completely broke up. As Jennifer sat up, dazed, I rushed over to help her to her feet, unsuccessfully attempting to suppress my own laughter. A door opened down the hall and a voice said loudly, "What the hell was that, a sonic boom?" Everyone was now laughing their head off.

We began gathering up the equipment and paper as one of the attorneys slid the glass wall open. Practically purple with embarrassment, Jennifer looked up sheepishly and said, "Well, I guess that's one way to make an impression," sending everyone into further gales of laughter.

The worst part of the situation was that Jennifer had to stay and take the deposition. The best, for me, was that I was there to witness it. You can be sure that I'll never let Jennifer live that one down.

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Ethical Procedures
by Mylinda Faircloth

Picture this: Your client is wondering where his job is. It's two days late. The reporter calls to say she's just about to print it - at 4:45 the day before a holiday. Finally, it arrives. The tabs are wrong. The box is too small. Your client's address is wrong. The insurance company's name is wrong. The punctuation is - let's say interesting. The date of the job is wrong. The reporter is nowhere to be found, it's Sunday afternoon, and you're making the corrections to the ASCII file so you can reprint it.

Court reporter nightmare? (Oh, come on, admit it; we all have them.) No such luck. This time it's real. These are all things that I encountered with one reporter on two jobs she took for me.

When asked about the problems with the job, she went from apologetic to defensive to hostile. She said, "If my work product is so bad, you don't have to call me anymore. No one else has a problem with it but you." Unfortunately, the problem is not whether I call her or not. She is merely a symptom of what is happening in our profession today. Every time a low quality transcript goes out, we bleed a little more.

We stand around at the meetings and conventions and wonder why our profession seems to be faltering, why it seems that the lifeblood is draining away, and we're trying desperately to hold onto what we have left. Officials are losing their jobs to tape recorders. Stenomaskers have the potential to infiltrate our profession in staggering numbers. Machine writing schools are closing, and stenomask schools are opening. We are constantly besieged with people trying to take our livelihood away. Maybe we should stop helping them.

I suggest that instead of looking outside, we start looking inside our profession for some answers. I believe we have cause to be concerned. I feel as though we are contributing to the destruction of our profession by ignoring the most important asset we have - the future. The young reporters need guidance and help. They need someone to teach them pride and integrity.

To the young reporters, I say this: Live up to your word and take pride in your work. Learn the Uniform Format Manual. It is not optional. Learn it. Your license might depend on it. Keep your word. Keep your word. Keep your word. Be responsible for your license. No one else will be. Do you know what happens to your transcript once you turn it in? You should. Your license might depend on it. Are you seeing a common thread here? You are part of a wonderful, proud profession. Help us make it stronger. Help us grow. Your livelihood depends on it. So does mine.

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