Breaking points

Had just been promoted (albeit due to attrition) to copy desk chief and night news editor. Got married. Two weeks after the wedding, wife breaks down crying that she never sees me. That was that.

 

Baron, I know I could have left for other jobs during that time, but I wasn't willing to move very far away from my family. I could have dealt with a days drive away but when I did apply for jobs that were close I never got the interview and I go back to genuinely wanting to work for my hometown paper. It does belong to a chain, one with a not so good reputation, but I never had a problem with anything other than the crappy pay and lack of full time status.

I can say now that I'm gone I am a lot happier, even though I do miss it some. I don't feel as stressed all the time and I'm not spending Saturday afternoons covering little league or some other event very people care about. At least with the freelance I have the ability to say no if I don't want to do it. My old SE knows my abilities and I stayed busy during basketball season after leaving.

 

No matter what you do, you make choices and sacrifices. It used to be somewhat easier to justify the choices and sacrifices we made to stay in journalism, because there was more job security and a greater chance for advancement. Everybody obviously makes their own choices.

I left the job, went to school, and now work at a new job.

Last night, I didn't leave the office until 10:30 p.m. or so. Why not? Because I like my job and opted to work late to get some stuff done and make people happy with me. It's the same choice so many of us make and made in journalism.

The difference, of course, is that I get paid more money to do it. But it's a more structured job (i.e. suit, tie and regular hours) and they don't pay to send you to the Rose Bowl. Do I miss journalism? Sure, how could you love doing something for 15 years and not miss it? Do I love my new job? Absolutely, and you'll never get to stand in front of a Federal Court judge in journalism and try to convince him you're correct. Different gigs, different upsides and downsides.

In the end, we all have our own personal equation of when it's worth it and when it's not - no matter what we do. We all have to decide when the math doesn't work for you any more.

 

Still in the biz, but I see it. Luckily, some things broke my way and I was able to stay in, but if I get a major offer out of the biz (still trying to do) I am gone.

Here's the hardest thing for me:

Last three years missed New Year's with the kids because been at a bowl game. this year, left day after xmas, really early. Imagine packing Xmas night to leave on a 6am flight?

So anyway, Year 1: "daddy where are you?"

Year 2: "Daddy I miss you, you coming home soon?

This year when I got back, my 14 month old boy didn't even know who I was. Ugh.

 

So how much did the divorce cost you?

 

Yeah, a friend of mine went through that BS last year. He wanted out of the entire industry anyway, so it was sort of a moot point. But he let them know in no uncertain terms that the company had no legal ground to stand on when it came to whatever future decisions he might make. It would be like Walmart telling its employees they couldn't quit and go work for Target. Same premise.

I think companies just use that stuff as scare tactics.

 

I can't tell you how much more fun it is for me now to work a Division-II football or basketball game, even though the amount of work on game day can be immense. I mean, the SI dept. is two of us, and yet we'll wheel the scorer's table out, replace the nets, setup monitors -- the whole thing, start to finish. Does it get me down, though? Hell no. Even when Im banging away at the gamer hours later, I'm still getting to do what I want and how I want to do it. And everybody -- from the chancellor's office to the conference office -- loves that I don't write the typical SID gamer. I write a story.

And when it's all said an done, and everything goes off without a hitch -- at least to the people who are around the scenes, not behind them -- that's a huge rush.

The other day, we had a quasi-hack job done on one of our sports by the local paper. Not to get into too many details, but there were two ways to handle it. My boss and the AD chose my route after I laid it out to them. And it worked out.

Yes, SID work can be long and it can be tough. But when it's so appreciated, it's a whole new level. And when your school is winning? Well, it's a helluva lot different than when Podunk High is winning. It just is.

Now I'll go back to my show-up-once-a-week-in-the-office schedule for the next 2 1/2 months. Enjoy little league all-stars...

 

I'm still in the business, but there are a couple points I almost gave up.
At my last newspaper, I wrote a gigantic story about the high school girl's team celebrating the 25th anniversary of their only HS basketball title. The day it was supposed to run - a day before the actual anniversary - was going to be the big Sunday piece. On Friday, the advertising director came to our managing editor and said "I have a problem."
Apparently, they needed to put a "make-do" ad for screwing something up, and wanted it in color. Long story short, only place they could put it was the front page of the sports section. (Page 2, the other color page, already had a couple color ads on it). I went ballistic on the advertising director within reason, never threatening or what have you, and found a way to work around it. Cut the 2,500-word story into a 700-word "preview" of the story, then ran it the next Sunday.
In addition, at the paper I work at currently, we've had some notoriety recently because we have a newsperson who is involved with both sides of a humanitarian cause that has been statewide news because of shenanigans. That person has been on indefinite leave of absence, but it's incredulous that the paper has allowed her to play in both backyards.
There are also a few instances of people in the community going over my head right to the publisher about something; getting deadlines cut back or restrictions placed on my job; and the usual griping.

 

My breaking point for the business was when I quit my job and realized I had no desire for another one. Mrs. Stain had been itching to go back to full-time work, and it turns out being a stay-at-home dad is awesome.

I've got a part-time job for a nearby paper, just taking phone calls one night a week and covering a game or two, and that's just perfect. 8-10 hours a week is about as much journalism as I can stomach before it becomes more stress than it's worth.

Every other time I've been out of work, I've been desperate to find the next full-time newspaper gig. This time, I just can't even stomach the idea.