Nanny Is No Ninny--He Knows Where the Money Is

--Having a nanny to care for a baby may bring a mental image of a middle-aged, motherly woman wearing a starched cap and pushing a perambulator. But don’t tell that to 18-year-old Greg Soriano. He learned of the opportunities in child care when a recruiter from the California Nannie College of Sacramento spoke at a high school career counseling program in Redding. “I knew immediately it was what I wanted to be,” he said. He’s used to being ribbed about his profession and being called “Mr. Nanny.” “It’s not easy being a pioneer at anything,” he said. And besides, the profession has positive factors. “Being surrounded by women never bothered me,” he said. In addition: “These people who employ you are wealthy,” he said. “We’re talking multimultimillionaires, with yachts and jet planes. They take you traveling all over the world, and they make you part of the family.”

--Food fights just won’t be the same anymore for unruly inmates of Michigan prisons. Instead of serving such prisoners meat or fish, salad, gelatin, potatoes or other single food servings, everything will be ground up and mixed with pancake batter and baked in a loaf for less mess in a food fight. “Instead of giving them a tray full of food, you give them a loaf,” Corrections Department spokeswoman Gail Light said in Lansing. “Three meals a day you get this great, big loaf of all your food.” The state Corrections Commission last week passed a policy directive to begin using the loaves, an idea borrowed from other states, until the inmates change their behavior, Light said. “It’s not supposed to be used as punishment,” she said of the loaves. “We’re seasoning it. I’ve tasted some of the samples. I wouldn’t say it’s horrifying.”

--Aerospace engineer Lenell Geter, 27, who fought his prison sentence for armed robbery of a fast-food restaurant in a Dallas suburb and eventually won vindication, says he has sold the film rights to his story. Geter spent 16 months in prison after his conviction in 1982 and was cleared after the real robber was identified. These days, Geter is a respected citizen in Greenville, Tex., and even the police officers are friendly. “There’s maybe one or two who wave at me as we pass,” he said. “They know me now. I think that’s a nice gesture.”