Chris Jones: "Being Poor Sucks"

[YankeeFan]

Too bad he can't vote here. Chris is talking like a Republican:

... few things bother me more about writers than our professional romanticization of poverty. Being poor sucks...

... There are poor lawyers and architects, but you don't hear them glamorizing their fates next to candles stuck in wine bottles...

... If you're good at this, your words have value. You want to be a Bohemian? Great. But that's not your only destiny.

https://twitter.com/#!/mysecondempire

 

[JR]

Sorry, your link to Chris's tweet/blog doesn't work.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

TSP: "I agree."

 

[JR]

Sorry, your link to Chris's tweet/blog doesn't work.

Don't be a douche.

Copying and pasting it worked just fine for me. But since you're in the mood to act slow:

YF corrected his original post (see the "edit" at 11:14) eight minutes after mine (11:06) because his original link didn't work

 

[JR]

YF, I doubt that Chris would consider your comment about him "talking like a Republican" to be a compliment.

 

[Double Down]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

 

[JR]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

Thinking the same thing. The Jones haters are legendary around here.

But, (and posted over on the NHL Stanley Cup thread), here's his recent column about spending the day with the Stanley Cup.

I'm sure there will be people here who will ask, "Why did he get the Cup?"

Simple answer: he asked for it

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7983145/chris-jones-takes-stanley-cup-port-hope-espn-magazine

Since I was a boy, I've watched that trophy being hoisted into the air by giants. Now it was on my front step. I sat beside it and laughed until my eyes filled with water. Just then, the neighbors had two guys pull up to open their pool. I will never forget the size of the smiles on their faces. The mailman came around and refused to believe it was the real thing.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

Thinking the same thing. The Jones haters are legendary around here.

But, (and posted over on the NHL Stanley Cup thread), here's his recent column about spending the day with the Stanley Cup.

I'm sure there will be people here who will ask, "Why did he get the Cup?"

Simple answer: he asked for it

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7983145/chris-jones-takes-stanley-cup-port-hope-espn-magazine

Since I was a boy, I've watched that trophy being hoisted into the air by giants. Now it was on my front step. I sat beside it and laughed until my eyes filled with water. Just then, the neighbors had two guys pull up to open their pool. I will never forget the size of the smiles on their faces. The mailman came around and refused to believe it was the real thing.

He asked for it . . .

AND he writes the back-page column for ESPN the Magazine.

Kinda important.

 

[JPW]

I have to say I agree about the ridiculousness of fetishising our poverty. Sure, I love the romanticism of writing and its craft and it's funny to joke about being broke and living cheap; but coming from a 22-year-old who graduated college a couple weeks ago and is essentially on salary with his parents, being poor does suck.

I know that the article he was responding to is basically mindless garbage, but trust that not all young people feel that way about writing. I plan to work my ass off through these ****ty coffee-and-ramen times, hope to get a job and keep working my ass off so that I will never feel like this again.

 

[93Devil]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

Thinking the same thing. The Jones haters are legendary around here.

But, (and posted over on the NHL Stanley Cup thread), here's his recent column about spending the day with the Stanley Cup.

I'm sure there will be people here who will ask, "Why did he get the Cup?"

Simple answer: he asked for it

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7983145/chris-jones-takes-stanley-cup-port-hope-espn-magazine

Since I was a boy, I've watched that trophy being hoisted into the air by giants. Now it was on my front step. I sat beside it and laughed until my eyes filled with water. Just then, the neighbors had two guys pull up to open their pool. I will never forget the size of the smiles on their faces. The mailman came around and refused to believe it was the real thing.

They know what it means.

 

[Boom_70]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

Thinking the same thing. The Jones haters are legendary around here.

But, (and posted over on the NHL Stanley Cup thread), here's his recent column about spending the day with the Stanley Cup.

I'm sure there will be people here who will ask, "Why did he get the Cup?"

Simple answer: he asked for it

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7983145/chris-jones-takes-stanley-cup-port-hope-espn-magazine

Since I was a boy, I've watched that trophy being hoisted into the air by giants. Now it was on my front step. I sat beside it and laughed until my eyes filled with water. Just then, the neighbors had two guys pull up to open their pool. I will never forget the size of the smiles on their faces. The mailman came around and refused to believe it was the real thing.

Just the same, Jones apologists around here are equally legendary. I do agree that The Jones threads all follow a similar pattern whether started by a fan or detractor.

 

[Ace]

Oh yay. Another thread about Chris, that will inevitably play out the same way it always does.

Thinking the same thing. The Jones haters are legendary around here.

But, (and posted over on the NHL Stanley Cup thread), here's his recent column about spending the day with the Stanley Cup.

I'm sure there will be people here who will ask, "Why did he get the Cup?"

Simple answer: he asked for it

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7983145/chris-jones-takes-stanley-cup-port-hope-espn-magazine

Since I was a boy, I've watched that trophy being hoisted into the air by giants. Now it was on my front step. I sat beside it and laughed until my eyes filled with water. Just then, the neighbors had two guys pull up to open their pool. I will never forget the size of the smiles on their faces. The mailman came around and refused to believe it was the real thing.

Just the same, Jones apologists around here are equally legendary. I do agree that The Jones threads all follow a similar pattern whether started by a fan or detractor.

I would like to apologize for Jones if anyone was offended.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I'm not saying anybody could get to spend the day with the cup, but I'm guessing that just about anyone here who wanted to could find a way to hold it, put it over their heads and even drink out it if they so desired.

I would be curious how many newsrooms the cup visits in a year. I'm guessing the number is very, very high...

 

[typefitter]

Points of Order:

1. Even I'm sick of hearing about myself on here, and I can talk about myself a lot.

2. I have been poor, and I have been rich, and I'll take rich every single time. "More money, more problems?" Bull****. If you're not begging to eat, you have fewer problems than people who are.

3. I tweeted that in response to this article, which is yet another celebration of some vagabond writer's life committed mostly by people who want to call themselves writers but do no actual writing, or at least no writing that is paid for and read:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/things-you-should-know-before-you-date-a-writer/

4. Unless you win the Cup, you cannot hoist it or drink out of it. You can touch it. The actual Cup is on the road more than 300 days a year. (The Hall of Fame has a replica on display the rest of the time.) If you want to see it, at some point, it will be within your immediate vicinity. Unless you live in Hawaii. The Cup has not been to Hawaii, as far as I could figure.

5. I'm sure it helped that I work for ESPN. However, the NHL also did this for the National Post newspaper in Toronto many years ago. The league knows the Stanley Cup is its best ambassador. The NHL is also the most media-friendly of the four big leagues, at least in my experience. I can't say for sure, but my guess is they would have done something like this in any league city.

6. This business is built on asking questions.

7. Being poor still sucks.

8. I am pretty ****ing far from being a Republican.

Thank you for reading,
CJ

 

[MonsterLobster]

When I was in college, I honestly didn't care whether I made much money or not, so long as I was going to be writing.

Now, as I'm about to turn 30 and have a family to support and enjoy things like a decent home, the occassional vacation and steak once in a while, I absolutely abhor the fact that so many people in this business wear their poverty like a badge of honor. We work damn hard but do it in an industry that has devalued itself so much that the only way we can live with it is by telling ourselves it's funny in some way.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I made the mistake of hoisting the cup when it was in our newsroom a zillion years ago. I did not drink from it, because that just seemed to be overdoing it, even though most of the people in the office did.

Our hockey writer told me about not hoisting it right after I'd done it, and I was embarrassed for a few minutes until I saw people pouring soda into it to drink...

 

[JC]

I made the mistake of hoisting the cup when it was in our newsroom a zillion years ago. I did not drink from it, because that just seemed to be overdoing it, even though most of the people in the office did.

Our hockey writer told me about not hoisting it right after I'd done it, and I was embarrassed for a few minutes until I saw people pouring soda into it to drink...

I would love to know how many years ago this was.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I made the mistake of hoisting the cup when it was in our newsroom a zillion years ago. I did not drink from it, because that just seemed to be overdoing it, even though most of the people in the office did.

Our hockey writer told me about not hoisting it right after I'd done it, and I was embarrassed for a few minutes until I saw people pouring soda into it to drink...

I would love to know how many years ago this was.

Probably about 15.

 

[93Devil]

Good story.
Taking it to schools was a wise choice.
I like the pictures in your twitter feed.

Keep posting here. Don't let the few that **** with you run you off.

And, no, I am not crazy about all of your back page stuff, but no one can ever bat 1.000.

 

[LongTimeListener]

When I was in college, I honestly didn't care whether I made much money or not, so long as I was going to be writing.

Now, as I'm about to turn 30 and have a family to support and enjoy things like a decent home, the occassional vacation and steak once in a while, I absolutely abhor the fact that so many people in this business wear their poverty like a badge of honor. We work damn hard but do it in an industry that has devalued itself so much that the only way we can live with it is by telling ourselves it's funny in some way.

That's because there is another crop of people in their early 20s who are willing -- no, thrilled -- to do your job for less than what you're making now. And when they turn 30, there will be another group of people in their early 20s who will be willing -- no, thrilled -- to do their job for less than what they're making at age 30. And on and on.

It won't ever change. Remaining poor and continuing a writer is a lifestyle choice. Maybe it doesn't deserve scorn, but it doesn't deserve sympathy either.