Reporter's final column

He's a whiny little shit.

Not because he felt this way, but because he thought his tantrum was worthy of publication. I bet he was a cancer in the newsroom and won't be missed.

It's a big world, with lots of options. Perhaps he'll find his calling. Contrary to what many have suggested in this thread, journalism wasn't it.

It takes more than wit to make it in this business. First and foremost, you have to want to make it in this business. This guy didn't.

What he wanted was more pay, his own trash can and lots of hugs.

Perhaps he should become a therapist. I know he mentions kickboxing, but any journalist worth a damn would realize kickboxing will, in fact, require him to be good with his hands.

 

maybe you should see a therapist.

 

No time and no money. Plus, I have to keep a close eye on my trash can.

 

Hell, no. I agree with him.

A guy who simply wants everybody to feel sorry for his poor, meager existence.

You can finish that thought now, Simon. We're all waiting breathlessly to hear your first one.

 

you do know i thought you should be laying on a couch since the first day i showed up here, don't you? ;D

 

Mm-hmm.

 

Honestly ... I really think he was playing up the "whiny" aspect for humor value. That's what people do with humor columns. They exaggerate.

I can't believe some of you seem offended by this guy. It was funny. And it was on an Internet blog, not the front page of the New York Times. And he's not in the business anymore.

Gallows humor is funny, people. If we can't learn to laugh a little bit, we're all going to die of ulcers.

 

Sounds great in theory. But laughter was not what I was hearing. What I was hearing was the guy at work who's angry with his life and wants to bring everyone else down with him. I've seen it too often.

Gallows humor is OK in small doses. But our business takes a perverse pride in it.

 

I'm not offended in the least. Hell, I won't even remember this blog come tomorrow. My commentary was only added after I realized that pretty much everyone else had a different reaction than I.

At the end of the day, we are the sum of our individual experiences. Having served in the military, I know for certain that this guy knows nothing of the long hours, low pay and zero respect that others face.

I can say with confidence that being called biased is easier to handle than being called a baby killer. Though I'm always on the lookout, I've yet to see the journalist version of the yard sign that reads: "No Dogs or Sailors on Lawn!"

I bet this guy has never seen the glazed look of a nurse coming home at the end of a 12-hour shift at the hospital or a factory worker at the end of a graveyard shift. I bet this guy hasn't seen lots of things that would have given him enough worldly perspective to second guess the subject matter of his final column.

Then again, maybe he has, but he's been too full of himself to notice.

 

Christ All-fucking-mighty, do we have to pull out the military/hospital/steel worker card every fucking time someone hints that this profession not be all puppies and lollipops?

It gets so fucking tiring.

Congratulations for serving, dude. Did you do it so everyone would pat you on the back for the rest of your fucking life?

You do realize it's not the world's only honorable endeavor, correct?

 

It's the best damn argument, PW. Journalists DON'T have it so bad. It IS all lollipops and puppies compared to some of the alternatives.

I mean, unless you expect to have your ass kissed by all your sources. Which seems to be the case.

You know what? You want to go spend your four years of law school, be my guest. And I hope you're happier. But I don't need to hear it in the meantime.

 

Every job has its shitty elements. The constant badgering we get from a public who knows dick of what we do is one of ours and it's OK to bitch about it once in a while. If it becomes all-consuming, you have an issue and you can choose to live with it or get out. He choose to get out and make a statement as he walked out the door.

True, nobody gives a shit about our problems and, most of the time, those issues pale as compared to what many others deal with. But the general public is as full of shit as we are and should be told that their perceptions of what reporters do and don't do are wrong ... that, just as this guy said, we're just trying to earn a paycheck. The shit people will say about reporters is constantly amazing to me. They speak of us as though we are seriously evil, as if we sit at home and bang out stories they don't like in what spare time we have between raping toddlers and single-handedly oppressing the family coffee farmers of Bolivia.