Live, local, breaking Reality

Once again, you caught me reading Flutter...Glub...Meow.

Editor's note: It's my favorite read because its editor is the nice lady who turned me on to this ethereal form of venting. Plus, she's my buddy and I like to keep up with her moods.

Her most recent post hit home. She is a former newsie. I'm still handcuffed to the biz.

The recent events up north have made me realize what is right and what is worthless about our business. While I can't express my conclusions as well as I would like, they do make me wonder if I'm doing the right thing with my life. There are times when I truly feel I'm providing a service for my viewers. Most times, though, I feel like I'm interupting their lives. Something inside their warped brains forces them to watch local news. They tune in expecting to find something of relevance. Far too often, I fail them.

Today, for the first time since last Tuesday, I turned three stories that had nothing to do with terrorism. I hate to admit it, but it was nice to break from the horror of last week. The sad part...I was covering stories that I once considered great horrors of our times. Now--for right or wrong--they seem less significant.

1) A 1996 murder suspect cops a plea, avoiding a life-sentence by saying he has information on a cold case that the cops have been trying to solve for years. Turns out his information is worthless. A judge gives him 30 years.
2) A woman on trial for knowing her roommate killed a Radio Shack clerk (stabbed him in the neck) and not telling cops about it until the guy killed a florist, his ex-girlfriend, her husband, and then himself. She was in love with the killer and says she was afraid he would kill her too if she told anyone.
3) Three skin-head-looking guys follow a bunch of people home and rob them. The they run a poor lady off the road, rob and try to rape her.

This is what I do for a living.

My problem...I have no idea what I would do if I quit. I've seen about a half dozen people break free into the Land of the News Veterans. They all seem really happy. But I have very few skills. I can occasionally turn a phrase, I can talk clearly on occasion, and I can write dirty songs about my friends (usually delivered with a nice brain-greasing of cheap beer).

Anybody see those qualifications in the want ads?