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Making mirth at workThese guys have a jolly-good time on the jobWhat's your idea of a fun job? Webster's defines fun as "something that provides mirth or amusement, enjoyment; playfulness."If none of these adjectives describe your work situation, and youd like to try something that offers a little more fun, start by looking in the mirror. "Fun is an attitude," said Peter Johnson, a professor who has been-literally-having a blast teaching chemistry at the Illinois Institute of Technology since 1976. "Fun people will make any job fun. And unfun people will make the same job tedious and a bore," he said. Certainly none of Johnson's students consider his chemistry classes dull. He is renowned for the pyrotechnic experiments he stages to make the point that science can be fun. One of Johnson's most popular experiments involves filling one ballon with hydrogen and another with helium. When he applies a match to the helium-filled- balloon it merely pops: But when the hydrogen-filled balloon breaks, and the gas mixes with oxygen, there is a tremendous burst of energy that results in a large, attention-grabbing, ball of fire. It's hard to imagine that Will Clinger, the zany host of "Wild Chicago," WTTW Channel 11's hugely popular show that explores the offbeat and unusual in Chicago, couldn't put a positive spin on even the most mundane job. Clinger, who describes himself as a cross between Waldo (of the Where's Waldo? series of children's books) and comic-strip character Funky Winkerbean, has as an insatiable sense of curiosity, a prerequisite for his on-the-job antics. He has been known to swallow a minnow, stick his hand in the stomach of a cow, dive to the bottom of Lake Michigan and fly in every contraption known to mankind, including a three-wheeled flying machine (an experience he likens to "the closest thing to being a bird"). "It's the variety of the things I do that's really wonderful," said Clinger. "Just about the time you think you've seen it all, something else wild and crazy comes along." Clinger is in his ninth season as host of "Wild Chicago," the longest-running Chicago TV magazine series on the air. He describes the maniacally paced show as guerilla TV." "Once the cameras start rolling and the adrerialiae starts flowing, I'm a sucker to do things I wouldn't do in a saner moment-like swallowing that minnow," he admitted. |
Clinger contends that some of the other wild-and-crazy things he has done, like jumping out of an airplane, aren't as dangerous as they seem because he has put himself in the hands of quarlified people who know what they're doing even if he doesn't have a clue. Is there a downside to Clinger's job? "Sure," he. said. "There's a certain pressure from viewers who think that this is the ultimate fun job and I could never find anything that's more fun." Just rolling the title of Gerald Meyers' job around in your mouth is enough to send your salivary glands into overdrive. Meyers is a confectionary technologist for Fannie May Candies and the man responsible for the creation of sugar-free chocolates along with approximately 50 other sweet products. For the last 37 years his job has been to turn an abstract idea for a new flavor into the real thing for the Chicago-based candymaker. "I start by experimenting with ingredients. I take some milk, maybe a little cream, some chocolate, of course lots of sugar, then maybe some spices. A pinch of this and a pinch of that and before long I have a 5- or 6-pound batch," said Meyers, who then runs his new product by a panel of experts and other willing tasters. "I never get tired of making candy!" Meyers said. "I even dream about it at night-that's where a lot of my new ideas come from. And I'm making something most people enjoy, not nuts and bolts." Does the smell of chocolate and other confections ever become cloying and overpowering? "Never!" said Meyers emphatically. "When I'm away from the job three days it's heavenly to come back to that aroma." |
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