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art may imitate life, but life imitates tv
I was watching a Corner Gas rerun the other day. It was an episode I hadn't seen before, the one where Lacey's ex-fiance comes to visit from Toronto.
The opening scene features Wanda, the smart, sarcastic one, who works at the gas station, reading a book on quantum physics. A customer asks her what's up and she starts blathering about all the things she used to be interested in in college, ending with how she majored in linguistics* and minored in comparative religion.
I think my jaw may literally have dropped. I sat there open mouthed through the opening credits. I majored in linguistics with a minor in comparative religion! WANDA IS ME! I am Wanda! Or, I will be Wanda in about 10 years when I move to Saskatchewan and get a job at a gas station. Remember my prediction about being an alcoholic welfare mother of 4? Being a single mother who works at a gas station is not really that far off! I mean, I know my degree is useless, and I make fun of it myself, but I never thought it would become the actual butt of a joke on national TV.
The TV version of me is shorter, skinnier and blonder, but I can deal with that. Plus she always has a good comeback, which is something I deeply aspire to. I suddenly like this Wanda character a whole lot more than I used to. She sure is a bitch sometimes, though, am I right? Wait, I don't know if I want you to answer that.
*The show website does not mention linguistics, ["Nancy Robertson plays Wanda, Brent's sharp-tongued co-worker. Wanda is Dog River's resident "genius," with partial degrees in Physics, History, Biology and Comparative Religion. However, whether she's stripping at a Christmas party or getting drunk playing softball, she's a walking reminder of the difference between book smarts and common sense."] but I swear to god I heard her say it.
Update: Aha! I knew it!
[Wanda is reading a book]
Customer: What's that, quantum physics?
Wanda Dollard: Yeah, I've always been fascinated that light could be a particle and a wave. I was gonna study it in college, but then I got interested in biochemistry. And then on a whim settled on liguistics with minor in comparative religion.
Customer: Wow, how'd you end up in a place like this?
Wanda Dollard: The last girl quit, can you believe it?
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