Mary Bellamy

While reading a 1986 issue of Intercom, the employee newsletter for Standard Alaska Production Company, I came across one of those little space filler "joke" lists. This one was titled "You'll know things are messed up when..." Two items caught my eye.

• Gas station operators across the country wear turbans and speak Arabic.
• Getting elected to positions like governor will require not only that the candidate is a millionaire, but also that he or she has an acting background.

Fortunately, neither of these have come true in the last 20 years.