David Wylie

From the archives

We all like to think we’re entitled to our opinion.

However, one of my old journalism profs would very much disagree. In fact, he’d tell you to take your damnable opinion and shove it deep into your … well, you know where this is going.

Way too many years ago when I was learning the ropes, the News 101 course at Humber College in Toronto was taught by gritty Globe and Mail reporter Carey French. He did not suffer fools gladly.

Mr. French insisted that opinions are not a right, they are earned. As one of the best in business, he’d certainly earned his stripes and his right to appear in the op-ed pages.

At the time, I’d wanted desperately to be a columnist. I thought my opinions mattered. (Spoiler alert: they didn’t.)

To my benefit, I had a weird sense of humour and a willingness to express it in ink. A senior student, who took on the role of opinion editor at the ol’ college rag, gave me the chance to pen a regular column in the Humber Et Cetera.

Hidden among the utter bullshit that spread across the page when I tried to express an opinion back then were golden nuggets.

One of them even earned me a coveted award from Columbia University in New York.

But since then, my opinions have gotten me into all kinds of trouble…