“The Office” but in a dying newsroom

We had a sheet of paper in our office where we wrote down who would play each person in our orbit on a TV show.

I think I was played by Jonah Hill before I lost the weight and Timothy Olyphant after.

We had an old man who wandered in daily to act creepy towards our younger female reporters who looked and sounded just like Uncle Leo from Seinfeld. He was the easiest to cast.

 

Who will play the gambling-addicted sportswriter who thinks his years of covering prep football means he knows more about the NFL than the rest of the public?

 

I hear the creators shadowed The Toledo Blade newsroom for a day.

 

Our newsroom was used for "Marley & Me." Pretty much the last hurrah before things started going to hell.

 

Easily the most attractive co-worker I had was a classified rep at my first job. She also barely had the ink dry on her high school diploma so I tried not to let my mind go there. Even at 23 that felt like a bridge too far. But I guarantee you she wound up a total 6.

Also, this thread made me realize that this summer is the 25th anniversary of my start in journalism. Sheesh.

 

Same. My 18th birthday, actually.

 

Our hot Latina salesperson had the car accounts. I was told that because of her commissions, she was the highest paid employee at our paper, including the Editor. I made a significant achievement by getting her to join our co-ed softball team.

 

This better be the start of a Penthouse letter.

 

"Dear Penthouse, I never thought I'd be manning the very hot corner on my company softball team, but..."

 

Smart move.

Signed,
Guy Who Ended Up Marrying His Newsroom’s Jailbait Spanish-Language Reporter for No Discernible Reason Other Than She Was Hot.

 

Well, I can tell you she's a bad idea
For the good it would do
You got a Chevrolet as old as her
Hey, you bought it new

 

This summer is, or would be, the 40th anniversary of my first professional writing job.

Funny thing is, I didn't really know when my career ended; I got laid off, fully intended to look for other jobs, and I did, real hard, for 2-3 years. I knew things weren't gonna be great for someone at my age with only newspaper (and online) writing and editing experience, and it wasn't.

I still told people I was "freelancing," but that's only a "job" in a most remote sense; for a couple years I'd get a couple of one-off article assignments a week, crap like that. Finally when the magic day of SS eligibility arrived, I could admit to myself I was "retired."

Amusingly, of the nine publications I worked for in my 30-ish year career, all but one are still in existence -- but they're all just utter shells of their one-time selves. Most are now just four page reprint sheets.