‘Water Cooler Diaries’ Worth Talking About

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm
Published: May 18, 2008

“Water Cooler Diaries” by Joni B. Cole and B.K. Rakhra, 2008, DaCapo LifeLong, $15.95/$17 Canada, 320 pages, includes index: Maybe you like your job, maybe not. Perhaps you throw back the blankets each morning, imagining the wonderful things that will happen at work. Or maybe you slither, grumbling, out of bed and into the shower, wishing you could win the lottery and tell the boss “adios.”
Most weeks, it’s a combination of the two. But still, you wonder what it would be like to work as a ... (fill in the blank).
In the new book “Water Cooler Diaries” by Joni B. Cole and B.K. Rakhra, you’ll get a peek into the life of dozens of women, and you’ll learn about the kind of day they can have at work.
In her introduction, Joni Cole says that she was feeling sorry for herself one morning when she was caring for a sick toddler, experiencing a slump in her freelancing business and just generally having a bad day. Surely other women in other careers have it better, right? So she asked women from all walks of life and paths of career to diary a 24-hour period of their lives.
This book reflects their experiences on March 27, 2007.
From an executive assistant who relaxes with a new hobby and a plan: if she can sell her product, she’ll earn money to furnish her soldier-son the best body armor money can buy. “I’ve managed to raise a decent human being,” she says. “It would be unbearably awful for the world if Tristan were to die because there was a better body armor out there that he wasn’t wearing.”
From a school custodian: “Kids are so disrespectful these days ... I have heard the principal yell at them through closed doors. Still, they don’t care.”
From the owner of an Avon beauty center: “My feet might hurt, but my heart is happy!”
A social worker who cares for her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother says, “Most of the time she knows I’m family, but couldn’t tell you my name or our relationship. Tonight she doesn’t even know that.”
A paint tester notes about her temporary gig: “I need a third job because my first two are poorly paid.”
Still think your job could be better?  Check out the 21-hour day of an orthopedic trauma surgeon or the unimaginably long day of a stay-at-home-mom with a 4-year-old and infant twins.
Wow.
“Water Cooler Diaries” is one of those books that you start reading and can’t stop. Each of the diaries is short; most are just a few pages. They’re not candy-coated, but they’re not filled with “I hate my job” cries, either.  Some are funny. Others will break your heart in two. You can jump around and read them in any order you want, and this paperback book is perfect for tucking in your purse or briefcase so you have something to read on the commute or on your lunchbreak at work.
Walk in another woman’s (steel-toed) shoes for a day by picking up this un-put-downable book. “Water Cooler Diaries” proves that life is definitely not greener on the other side of the cubicle wall.

‘HOLYFIELD’ REVIEW
“Becoming Holyfield” by Evander Holyfield (with Lee Gruenfeld): 2008, Atria, $25/$28.99 Canada, 288 pages: When it comes to your favorite athletes, what do you think makes them the winners they are? In the new book “Becoming Holyfield” by Evander Holyfield (with Lee Gruenfeld), you’ll see that in this case, guidance, a national club, a few kind people with vision and a mother’s love gave a champ a glove up.
As the youngest of eight children, being raised by a single mother and a Bible-quoting grandmother, Holyfield remembers that he and his next-oldest brother spent hours playing in their Atlanta neighborhood. The Holyfield boys loved sports.
When a neighbor mentioned spending time at the Boys Club, Evander and Bernard couldn’t wait go, too. There, Holyfield says he was awed by the number of activities he could participate in, and he signed up for everything.
Except for the mysterious goings-on at the end of the gym, that is. Kids weren’t allowed there, but young Evander kept trying. Eventually, Carter Morgan let him in, taught Holyfield a thing or two and became the boy’s first mentor.
Holyfield won his first match at age 8 and didn’t lose for three years.
In this thoughtful, humble and gracious biography, Holyfield writes about the people who stepped in to help him when he was a struggling amateur athlete with a young family to feed, and the belief they had in his budding career.
He writes about the excitement of the Olympics, the heartbreak of the outcome and the patience he found in learning there were people in his corner who would take up certain fights on behalf of a boxer.
Think all athletes write memoirs to brag? Not at all. This one is different.
At a time when grandstanding seems to be the reason so many people put pen to paper, Holyfield doesn’t boast. He’s proud of his achievements, sure, but the usual chest-pounding just isn’t there. I was pleased and surprised to see a good sense of humor, too, as well as a little-boy hurt and confusion at being lied to.
For boxing fans and non-fans alike, “Becoming Holyfield” is a knock-out of a book.

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book.