Paying it forward or something like that

A while back my mother asked me to write a letter to the Pioneer Press for her. I tried to get out of it, saying that none of my letters to the editor had been published in the last decade, but she pleaded and I gave in. The topic was John McCain's call for 45 new nuclear reactors so the letter required some research and time--but lo and behold, it was published! It was gratifiying and galling at the same time, as I'd finally had something published but under someone else's name.

Last week, the Strib's Katherine Kerstin wrote an unusually bad column (even for her) and Joel remarked it sounded like a satire from The Onion. I stole his idea, dashed off a one-sentence letter, and it was published today! So now I feel my karma has evened out (even if Joel has been left shortchanged).