98
OB ON THE EDGE
Celebrated clothing designer and entrepreneur Linda Lundström (shown relax-
ing above), founder of Toronto-based Linda Lundström, knew she was under
too much stress the day she started crying uncontrollably after she couldn’t find
a parking spot near her doctor’s office.^1 “It was the proverbial last straw,” she
says about the parking incident. At the time, she was dealing with success,
recognition, a growing business, and two small children. She had started to
develop physical symptoms: skin rashes, intestinal disorders, neuralgia, and
insomnia. That day, she walked into her doctor’s office chanting over and over
again, “I can’t do it any more.” Lundström has since learned to manage her
stress and help her employees do the same.Calgary school bus driver Marvin Franks had a much more negative response to
stress.^2 Franks was arrested in March 2002 when a scared student on his bus
phoned 911 from her cellphone after smelling alcohol on his breath and find-
ing his driving erratic. When police stopped Franks, his blood alcohol level was
three times the legal limit. Franks’ excuse? “If you had these kids on your bus,
you’d drink too.” He admitted that he was unable to control the children, but
said that he smelled of alcohol only because he had a hangover, and had
drunk only two beers before starting his route.