Thoughts from Pamela Wallin

I attended the Brescia Breakfast for Bursaries this morning where Pamela Wallin was the guest speaker.

Kate Young was one of the attendees and stood up at the end during questions and commented how early in her career as anchor of London's local news she interviewed the then prime minister. Kate mentioned that Pamela was in the room during the interview and that she was more nervous about Pamela being there than she was about interviewing the prime minister.

Pamela's focus this morning was on the Canada/US relations and stated a few facts, one was that Canada does more trade with the US in one week than it does with China in the whole year. She commented on how both Canadians and Americans have many stereotypes and don't fully understand one another. Pamela related an analogy that if you owned a corner store and The Joneses were your biggest customer, buying 80% of your merchandise, you would know the Joneses anniversary, birthdays, and as much as you could of them. Americans are our Joneses, and we're there's, yet we don't understand them, and we call them morons. And Americans come up to Canada in the middle of Summer with their skis on their roof racks.

Pamela had many other good points and I can't state them all or even remember everything, but a few things did stand out from her talk.

One was that when someone comes to you with an opportunity, even if it's something you hadn't thought of or don't think you're qualified for, you should jump at the chance to do something new and to learn. Pamela mentioned that she interviewed someone once who said he wants to stay stupid for the rest of his life. Pamela mentioned that he wasn't a stupid man and his reply was that he knew that, but there would always be something he didn't know, so he would always be studying and learning.

Someone got up at the end to ask Pamela who were some people that have been a big influence to her or who she admires. Pamela had two stories to relate, one was of a couple she interviewed from Nova Scotia who had been in a car accident years before.

The wife was seriously injured and had brain damage. The doctors told the husband that he should think of putting his wife in an institution and get on with his life because she's never going to be the same. The couple had been avid boaters prior to the accident. So, the husband made up their bedroom to be like the berth of their boat and brought his wife home. Pamela interview them 7 or 8 years after the accident and the couple were both conversing intelligently in the interview and the wife had been back to work for a few years.

The husband commented that we celebrate beginnings and ends; births, weddings . . . divorces, we gather for funerals, but he said it's the middle that we should celebrate.

Pamela mentioned how it's those times when someone mentions something so obvious and yet something most people have never thought of that are so memorable for her.

Another story that Pamela related was of a time soon after she had moved to New York. She was at a dinner party and commented how she was always looking up at the buildings, admiring the architecture, etc. A woman sitting at the table said, "I used to do that, but not anymore." Pamela was about to ask why, but received a kick under the table from a friend sitting beside her so never said anything more about it. Pamela later learned that the woman had witnessed the people jumping from the towers on September 11. As a result the woman can no longer look up at the buildings without thinking of that event.

When Pamela mentioned this story at the breakfast this morning it brought tears to her eyes and to many others in the audience. Pamela mentioned that it was those personal stories that have the most profound affect and impact her life so much.