posted by patricia on May 8
I AM HAPPY TODAY BECAUSE … I bought a really cute birthday present for my daughter.
I am also happy because my father-in-law’s health is greatly improving! We are enjoying having him in our home.
***
We had a “working lunch” in the newsroom today. I brought meatloaf, another reporter (I call her my neighbor across the fence because she’s in the cubicle next to mine) brought some yummy mashed red potatoes, another brought some delicious green beans, plus we had bread and an ooey gooey chocolate cake.
Normally, a heavy meal like that makes me sleepy. But there was something about the combination of protein, fat and carbohydrates that put the whole department in a giddy mood after lunch.
Occasionally, you have to laugh at the strange things that happen behind the scenes at a newspaper. We get some crazy phone calls sometimes. For instance, one day we received an anonymous call from a guy who said he’d bought property in town and planned to build a White Castle restaurant and a Krispy Kreme donut shop. I was assigned to check it out.
Of course, I’m all over anything that has to do with fat and sugar — especially those Krispy Kreme donuts. I imagined all those hot, fresh donuts rolling off the conveyor belt, bathing in sugary glaze. Oh, and how those donuts melt in your mouth! My favorites are the cream-filled with chocolate icing. Mmmm. Anyway, I spent nearly an entire day driving all over town, talking to sources, trying to find out if the call was legit.
It wasn’t. Not only was it aggravating to learn I spent the whole day chasing my tail, I was really annoyed that someone would get my hopes up by dangling a donut in front of my nose. The caller probably had a grand time telling his friends about the little trick he played on an unsuspecting staff writer. And I’ve been teased, good-naturedly, by my colleagues about it ever since.
Nothing special happened today, news-wise or tip-wise. Nothing strange happened, either. We wrote our stories and made our calls, followed leads and talked to sources, like every other day. I guess the only thing different about today was lunch. Instead of everyone wolfing down fast food at their desks (or in my case, a Healthy Choice TV dinner), we sat together and shared homecooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and cake.
As I listened to the banter around the table at lunch and the laughter in the newsroom later in the afternoon, I realized how much I appreciate, and admire, the talents of my colleagues – the gifted young sports writer, the bright young police beat reporter, my neighbor across the fence who has a gift for writing with exactness and clarity, and the lead reporter who is not only a good writer, but wisely knows how to be tough when necessary and marshmallowy when he needs to be.
Maybe the act of slowing down and sharing food strengthens that sense of community that’s needed between people who spend their days in a spare, gray room, each staring at a separate computer monitor but sharing the same newsroom server.
And it reminds us to laugh at the White Castles in the air we’ve chased, or those elusive donut dreams.





I’m back, folks! Thanks to Wordpress for Dummies, a ton of patience and a few spare hours on a Saturday, I’ve resuscitated my blogsite! Isn’t it pretty? It was time for a change, so I went all out and changed the theme and blog name. I hope you like it!