Paddling in Circles

Hai placed 53rd among 126 candidates after her last attempt negotiate the treacherous canals of the lagoon city. But middle of the pack wasn't good enough. Only the top 40 receive a gondolier's license.

That left the German, who's determined to break into the all-male profession, fuming.

"The Venetians," Hai said, "are just not progressive enough to accept a woman -- and a foreigner to boot -- as a gondolier."

"It just goes to prove what I've always said," Hai added. "The positions are handed out in advance. It's already decided (before the exam) who is going to pass the test and who isn't."

O sole mio!

Hai thought she had found a way around what she says is a sexist system when she successfully sued for permission to pilot a gondola for a private hotel. But the city of Venice threatened to take the case to the country's highest court, saying that the canals were too dangerous for uncertified gondoliers.

When asked about mistakes she may have made in the test, Hai said simply: "I was nervous."

It's hard not to be impressed with Hai's persistence pursuing her dream in the face of five-fold failure. Yet it's also hard not to feel that maybe she would be better off looking for an alternative career.

To paraphrase that great contemporary philosopher, Homer Simpson, when confronted with his son Bart's inability to learn to play the electric guitar: A lot of times in life, if you're confronted with something difficult, it's better just to quit.