Hey Ace!

I should be working, but here is one quick post.

While I still think of myself as partially employed, I am slowly realizing that the paper takes up a good portion of my days off. Sitting in on various meetings eats up most of that time as does the travel time between locations. I don't mind this. I want to write and prefer a lifetime of freelance writing over a day-job.

Even with the effort I put into the paper, I still sometimes feel like I am writing in a vacuum. Amanda is immensely supportive and I love her for that, but we are still a young paper. Like a new business, we continue to introduce ourselves to the audience. That gets better every day and today was a singular day, at least for me.

I went to get a quick picture for a story. It was a head shot of a local official and I had to wait in the lobby of the building while the clerk staff let the official about me. I introduced myself with my Christian name (Long story why I use that tongue twister for bylines) and what paper I was from.

Upon hearing that I worked for a newspaper three other staffers immediately rolled their eyes and one groaned, "Jeez, what's a reporter doing here?"

Contrary to any ill will they wished on pesky old me, I FELT GREAT! I do not think myself as a reporter. And not because of some high-minded semantics. Instead, reporter feels too professional a title for me. Reporters don't have day jobs because the news is their day job. I am proud of what I write, but I know they are not the best pieces. Reporter is a very Romantic term for me and because I am not the best, I don't like to use the name of the best. Forget calling myself a "journalist." Might as well call myself the Pope. Instead, I remain comfortable as a contributor, growing until the one day I feel solid enough to call myself a reporters or even a journalist.

However, how damn cool is it to know that someone felt annoyed, maybe even worried, that I might put their actions to paper! I brought up all these images of Richard Nixon sitting in the Oval Office screaming, "Damn you Woodward and Bernstein!"

I played dumb after hearing the comment. I felt good about myself and is that so much to ask from a job and hobby?!

Consequently, paper-pushers, I was doing my job. If you are going to work for a municipality then be ready for any one to come through that door and corner you with a question. Maybe even the odd journalist, reporter, contributor, fact checker, ranter, video blogger, or activist. If you don't like it, then go to the private sector. Like all the other elected officials and senior staffers on my beat (i.e. your bosses), the person I came to visit was happy to answer my questions!

Peace!

*Image pulled from the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida.