If Things Are As Bad As We All Think...

one of the most unbrilliant posts i've ever read.

 

Perhaps even more than the money, what I found unsustainable were the hours, particularly covering anything but college football or the NFL.

I was fortunate enough to reunite with an old college friend who I ended up marrying. It was a lucky break because otherwise, those first couple years out of the chute, with their nights and weekends for less than $30K a year, were hellish on trying to establish an adult lifestyle. Some of my own insecurities kept me at it for longer than I should have, to be honest. I was surrounded by preps lifers and "calling" people, and racked with ridiculous guilt any time I considered leaving preps, leaving sports, or leaving the business. What an odd time. I basically gave away my 20s.

 

The guilt part is always brought up here when people talk about getting out.

I was lucky that there wasn't a lot of that for me. Good group of guys. They probably were happy to see me go.

 

And I don't mean just guilt about getting out of the newspaper business or journalism.

I'm talking micro-targeted guilt. Guilt about getting out of preps. Guilt about getting out of non-revenue preps even. Guilt about considering getting out of sports.

Maybe I imagined some of it, but not all of it. I definitely picked up a, "Oh, you think you're too good for prep softball/preps/sports/newspapers?" vibe in this business, when one gets a little too ambitious.

Now ... that doesn't mean it's not annoying when someone flaunts their belief that they're too good for the work they're doing. It can be a tough tight rope to walk - letting your boss know you have some ambition vs. not acting too big for what you're doing.

 

Bleacher Report Nation.