Saturday, October 15, 2005

Piss People Off Friday

As I said in the photo meeting Thursday night...I know I'm abrasive, I know I'm an asshole, but damned if I don't just want to bust my ass for what I believe in.

Anyway, that said, I'm used to making some people angry, but I usually like to know when I'm doing it.

After (hopefully) averting a mutiny within a department of The Star on Thursday evening, I came home to unwind from the week and finish up all my paperwork for an internship that I was pointed to by one of my old profs. It's a scholars program for "journalists of color."

And screw you, Manny...it ain't yellow.

Well, I get started on everything - and mind you, this complete package has to be in Arlington, VA by today (15 Oct) - and I don't get to sleep until 6 a.m. Friday morning. I had to type an essay, fill out an application in my best penmanship (which required more than a few reprints), choose six of my best clips and some other stuff.

Well, other than my standard wake-up call, I sleep until just before noon.

I wake up and realize I don't have one more signature on the application and I need to go to campus to get it. So I pack up all the papers in this nice binder I got for it all and get ready to leave when...I can't find my truck keys.

It's not like I live in a huge place. It's not like I have a lot of stuff, but I still lost my keys. I was going to lose a chance at a damn good internship opportunity (and have you ever had a word in which the spelling just kicks your ass time and again and you have to literally go letter-by-letter to get it right, well, "opportunity" is mine) because I couldn't find my damn keys.

Twenty surprisingly expletive-free minutes later, I realize I was nearly done in by a bag of sunflower seeds. The keys were under the bag right next to my laptop.

Bolt to campus and go the wrong way on a one-way street to not have to fight for a parking space and just park at the office, take care of what I need to and such, but right before I leave, I get a call from Christina (yeah, the one over there ------>). Apparently, part of her class was dedicated to one column I ran on Thursday.

Let's just say it has a line about performing a celebratory jig regarding the death of a certain Chief Justice and his return to Hades while the rest of the column talks about the author's perception of a certain political party.

I already knew that was coming, though, since I'd already recieved about five e-mails responding to the column.

So let's go to the scorecard...

1. I've pissed off republicans.

I proceed to New Braunfels and the FedEx shipping center to get my package out the door and on a desk in Virginia by today. $42.45 later, I'm back on the road to San Marcos. After a brief stop for some new jeans, I decide to go back to the office since I figure I'd rather read hate mail from the office than from home.

Get a call from Mom. She's found a Spanish tutor for me. I accept, but tell her that I'll probably still have to drop it. Well, that goes into a discussion of how I pay my bills and such. I gently inform her that her apparent beliefs that I don't want to graduate are incorrect and we hang up angry.

2. I've pissed off Mom.

Friday was supposed to be the day I unwound, maybe read The Star in a non-work capacity and prepare for my fantasy football and basketball leagues...nope, I had to make a short, Hispanic woman angry and a significant amount of College GOP'ers angry.

Next week's going to be fun, but then again, aren't they all.

Actually, though, I'm good. Almost none of the complaints sent to me have been particularly harsh towards the paper or questioning the existance of my soul and the like. They've all been very cordial and directed their comments towards the columnist - which is exactly what I'd hoped for when I took the job and knew this issue would come up someday.

It's not my job to censor. It's my job to facilitate the publication of their thoughts. I've accepted guest columns on many subjects, openly sought a diversified bunch of political commentators and tried to steer away from simply being a "Bush sucks, Dems suck" section.

And damnit, I think I'm doing a good job so far.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home