Just blowing off steam

I had that issue at my former small town paper with the local bowling alley. The bowling alley owner was friends with the SE who worked before me (who had been fired for circumstances I don't know about) and would bitch about how I come in, take some pictures of his tournament, tell him to send me the results later, and leave.

He would tell me how the former SE would hang out in his alley at the bar and bowl a few games every week, and was pissed that I wouldn't do the same. I'd try to explain to him that I had to get back to work to put the paper out. He didn't understand, or care.

Now, some might consider what the former SE did to be cultivating sources. For me, after dealing with the job for 40-60 hours, the last thing I'd want to do is hang out in a bowling alley. I'd hang out with my girlfriend, my friends, or do something on my own. And the owner's attitude was such that on the rare occasions that I would go bowling myself (2-3 times a year), I went to the alley 30 miles away, rather than deal with the owner.

Then, when someone would bowl a 300 game, the bowling alley owner would complain about why it wasn't in the paper. I would reply, "You didn't notify me." He would then complain that if I was hanging out in his alley, I would have been there to shoot the 300 game. How I was supposed to predict that someone would bowl a 300 game is beyond me.