If You're Faithful With a Little...

At orientation yesterday morning, our directors kept emphasizing one thing -- first impressions count. This is probably why I was very self conscious going to my internship this morning. Was I dressed formal enough? Was I going to be all sweaty from that brisk walk from the bus to the building? Oh gosh, what were they going to think when I showed up with black shoes and a tan reptile-skin purse because my other bag had inconspicuously fallen into the hamper?!! Aaggh!

I guess I made a good impression considering I arrived half an hour before anyone else in the office and ingratiated myself to my boss by toting in a huge stack of the day's newspapers so they were ready for him.

To clarify, I work for the Religion News Service, a secular, unbiased wire service that is devoted to any and all things religion. A wire service is like the Associated Press -- reporters are stationed around the worle, and members who subscribe to the service and can publish any of the news they'd like. So my internship consisted of me reading through the papers and scanning the internet for two hours for any religion story I could find. Then, I pitched the stories to my boss and he'd tell me what to write about.

Today, I would rewrite a story about how Republicans are almost twice as likely to be creationists than Democrats. By the end of the week, he said, I'd have four of these 300-word stories written and they would be sent to hundreds of publications across the country -- including the big guys like the L.A. Times and the Washington Post -- for them to print at their discretion.

I kinda surprised my boss when I had three of the fiur stories done by closing time, so I don't think I'm getting kicked out anytime soon. And consequently, I'm getting a really cool story tomorrow morning:
I'm interviewing a goddess. Well, she's a goddess according to the Nepalese Hindus, and it's her first time in the United States. But more on that divine opportunity tomorrow...