Missing It

[da man]

Thanks to all for lending a sympathetic ear. I'm glad I don't feel alone, and I'm glad some of you don't feel the way i do -- it makes me hope that someday I won't miss as much about my previous life as I do now. I can appreciate all the things listed here that are not missed. I will not miss angry parents, high school all-star teams, the AP wire, dimwits on the phone, taking a pay cut and having vacation time taken away.

I equate working in the business the past two decades to being on the Titanic. The ship was sinking and I had the opportunity to get on a life boat. But parts of me today still marvel at what a beautiful ship it was — before it hit the iceberg.

In my new job, stress is of a different kind, and I only feel a touch of it Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. I don't take work home with me and weekends are spent with my family. It's not a bad living at all. I never knew what I was missing.

That's ****ing poetry.

 

[BTExpress]

On the other hand, I don't know if I can deal with having a regular job with normal working hours.

I kind of feel the same way. On occasion I will find myself on my day off stuck in late afternoon rush hour traffic and wonder, "How the hell do people spend every day sitting in this **** without going insane?"

I believe Ryan_Sonner once related his early morning commute/parking routine in D.C., and it sounded like a truly miserable existence.

 

[blacktitleist]

I got out last July and miss the hell out if. I've discovered that I'd rather write about basketball rather than be in the business of basketball, because there are some shady as hell folks involved with it.

Plus, dealing with parents in youth sports is a different animal.

Call me crazy, but I want back in.

 

[da man]

I got out last July and miss the hell out if. I've discovered that I'd rather write about basketball rather than be in the business of basketball, because there are some shady as hell folks involved with it.

Plus, dealing with parents in youth sports is a different animal.

Call me crazy, but I want back in.

OK, you're crazy.

Any other requests?

 

[MisterCreosote]

I kind of feel the same way. On occasion I will find myself on my day off stuck in late afternoon rush hour traffic and wonder, "How the hell do people spend every day sitting in this **** without going insane?"

I believe Ryan_Sonner once related his early morning commute/parking routine in D.C., and it sounded like a truly miserable existence.

I live outside D.C. too, and the rush hours are awful but at least they're predictable (i.e., when the breakaways are, where to avoid). Disclaimer: I don't commute downtown, and if I did, I live close enough to public transportation that I'd certainly never drive.

It's when there's an accident or 100, or, God forbid, a single flake of snow and every road within a 50-mile radius is gridlocked that just sucks the soul right out of you.

The main thing I miss is doing grocery shopping at off-peak hours. Standing in a 12-deep line at Safeway is infinitely worse than most Beltway stop-and-go I encounter.

 

[BDC99]

I have more than 20 years in the business myself but I am in limbo right now. ...
On the other hand, I don't know if I can deal with having a regular job with normal working hours. I am not wired to be an 8-5 person.

Right there with you. For the first time in my 19 years in the business, I am truly fearful that it may be coming to an end in the very near future. I have been fortunate that I have made a pretty fair living, having gotten into it at just the right time, I guess, and I don't feel like I can make the same money doing anything else right off the bat. And I have always been a night person. I am worried about how I will adapt to a day job if it comes to that, as well. I do look forward to enjoying sports without work looming over everything I read/hear, but I don't know how I will adapt when the time comes. And it's coming quickly.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Had a day job in 1994-99 and you know what I did?
Worked as stringer on night games.
I'd probably do the same again.

 

[Fredrick]

After almost 20 years in the business, I left newspapers a year ago. I now work in marketing. It's great on payday, and I don't have the daily stress of potential layoffs. But it doesn't scratch me where I itch.

I miss my old job.

I miss writing on deadline. I miss the "off the record" time with coaches after the interview. I miss writing enterprise features. I miss the press box during rain delays and the sidelines on Friday nights. I miss newsroom banter, bets and bragging. I miss picking up the paper and seeing my story. I miss the sound of the press. I miss keeping stats. I miss road trips.

I just miss the whole damn mess.

Anyone else who left the business feel this way?

Can't you freelance in your spare time? Weekends? You'll get the same rush and not have to deal with the bull****. Furloughs, layoffs, no raises, no respect, 10 a.m. meetings, clueless management people, Gannett's influence on the industry?

 

[Cosmo]

I thought I'd end up freelancing a little bit more than I do when I made the switch ... but when I started weighing the benefits of making an extra $75-125 here or there versus free time and not burning out, not burning out won out. I still do some work for football and basketball preseason mags and may help out with the odd golf tournament since I'm probably staffing it anyway, but I think my days of picking up random college games at night on weekdays are done. Could be talked into picking up a Saturday day game, I suppose, but then again, I found I really liked being a fan on Saturdays this past fall, so who knows.

We talk a lot about the grind and the process here, and I enjoyed it to a certain extent. But toward the end, when I started doing more and more for the paper (including picking up a non-sports beat of sorts), asked for a raise and got kindly told none were coming, it was really the last straw. Who the hell wants to work 24/7 essentially for mid-size newspaper pay, especially when friends who were younger and in more normal working hour jobs were making close to twice what you were making? People kept telling me I was doing a great job, yada yada. Nice to hear, but I knew deep down that I was half assing it because there's only so much you can give to a job that gives little back and leads you into financial peril.

 

[playthrough]

I miss the biz a little, but whenever I start romanticizing, I remember the reality. Loved high school Friday nights, but those were often followed by swimming Saturdays. Newsroom camaraderie was really only at my very first job, not at the major metro where I ended. And yeah, the pay sucked. What do I really miss? Weekday morning golf.

I'm still in sports on the PR side, so I still get a lot of my "fixes" as in going to events and talking to/working with athletes (the select ones that aren't d-bags). And I can still freelance at times, so that takes care of the writing juices.

 

[ChrisLong]

On my last night, the prep editor told me that come September he was sure he could find me a game to cover near where I live. I said thanks, but no thanks. I told him he would probably get in trouble when he sent the pay voucher to the Deputy Editor, since I told the guy off when he informed me my "buyout request" had been approved. Yes, there were witnesses since the dickwad delivered the news to me right in the middle of our department within easy earshot of at least a half-dozen people. That DE was axed at the next layoff a few months later.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I'm very close to leaving and I sure as hell won't miss it. I'm ****ing sick of all the bull**** rules, bull**** managers, bull**** pay and bull**** bull****. **** newspapers. I'll never read or buy another one the day I walk out that door and that day is coming soon.

 

[TyWebb]

I also thought I'd be doing more freelancing once I got out than I actually am. I figured that would be a great way to scratch the itch, but I haven't done any in about a year. The times I did were fun, and I didn't mind the extra money, but I just didn't feel as invested in producing a great story. I guess that's because I wasn't at all worried about the success/failure of the section or trying to build up a clip portfolio. It was just something to do on a Friday night.

 

[moonlight]

Can't you freelance in your spare time? Weekends? You'll get the same rush and not have to deal with the bull****.

I have done some of that, but Ty understands why it isn't so satisfying anymore:

I figured that would be a great way to scratch the itch. ... The times I did were fun, and I didn't mind the extra money, but I just didn't feel as invested in producing a great story. I guess that's because I wasn't at all worried about the success/failure of the section or trying to build up a clip portfolio. It was just something to do on a Friday night.

Stringing now just feels like a part-time weekend job, no different than working anywhere else.

 

[I Should Coco]

Lots of good posts on this thread ... especially for those of us in a mid-career crisis.

When the day comes for me, I won't miss the lack of decent sleep. I'm not asking for much, just 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleeping. No more 4-5 hours, waking up with everyone else in the household, trying to sneak in an hour nap midday, then going to work.

I mentioned this during a recent performance review with my boss: the copy desk schedule is literally bad for my health. The 3/3:30 to midnight schedule once worked great for me — but at this point, with my wife working regular hours and kids needing a car/rides at 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the appeal of working "second shift" is wearing thin.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Moonlight, I worried I was going to be like that when I left after 20 years (10 as an SE and hosting a radio talk show during most of it too).

But then I realized all the bull**** I had to deal with over the years had destroyed the pure moments of joy in the journalism itself. The rush of hitting deadline was a great drug. But didn't make up for six-day, 70-hour workweeks. BSing with colleagues in the pressbox at State U games didn't make up for the emptiness of the newsroom as I looked around where there had once been eight fulltime writers and now there were just three. The thrill of scooping the competition or nailing a feature story didn't make up for sweating over budget cuts (Can we afford to pay mileage to cover Podunkville? What do you mean we have to buy our own pens and reporter's notebooks!?!) and laying off good people just so the billionaire owner could see the yearly profit margin go from 15 percent to 15.001 percent.

I thought I'd do some stringing for my old paper. The guy who replaced me asked me to cover a game about a month after I left. When I asked about the pay, he said "Oh, we can't afford to pay you. I just thought you'd do it as a favor." After I declined, I felt bad for a few days. The reporting and writing itch was still there. But I wasn't going to work for free. He hasn't called back and each week since, the itch has been salved by having nights and weekends free to spend with my family and better pay for fewer hours.

 

[Fredrick]

Moonlight, I worried I was going to be like that when I left after 20 years (10 as an SE and hosting a radio talk show during most of it too).

But then I realized all the bull**** I had to deal with over the years had destroyed the pure moments of joy in the journalism itself. The rush of hitting deadline was a great drug. But didn't make up for six-day, 70-hour workweeks. BSing with colleagues in the pressbox at State U games didn't make up for the emptiness of the newsroom as I looked around where there had once been eight fulltime writers and now there were just three. The thrill of scooping the competition or nailing a feature story didn't make up for sweating over budget cuts (Can we afford to pay mileage to cover Podunkville? What do you mean we have to buy our own pens and reporter's notebooks!?!) and laying off good people just so the billionaire owner could see the yearly profit margin go from 15 percent to 15.001 percent.

I thought I'd do some stringing for my old paper. The guy who replaced me asked me to cover a game about a month after I left. When I asked about the pay, he said "Oh, we can't afford to pay you. I just thought you'd do it as a favor." After I declined, I felt bad for a few days. The reporting and writing itch was still there. But I wasn't going to work for free. He hasn't called back and each week since, the itch has been salved by having nights and weekends free to spend with my family and better pay for fewer hours.

Geezus. The guy had the nerve to ask you if you would cover it for free. I finally am speechless. Can anybody explain why a person thinks a successful former employee would go cover a game for free? Even citizen journalism failed because after the initial thrill of "getting" a press pass the citizen journalist realized quickly it was work not play.

 

[Fredrick]

Lots of good posts on this thread ... especially for those of us in a mid-career crisis.

When the day comes for me, I won't miss the lack of decent sleep. I'm not asking for much, just 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleeping. No more 4-5 hours, waking up with everyone else in the household, trying to sneak in an hour nap midday, then going to work.

I mentioned this during a recent performance review with my boss: the copy desk schedule is literally bad for my health. The 3/3:30 to midnight schedule once worked great for me — but at this point, with my wife working regular hours and kids needing a car/rides at 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the appeal of working "second shift" is wearing thin.

No offense, but you should resign immediately. Life is too short to deal with your schedule. You can't lead a normal life with your schedule. Your wife has normal hours and you get home at 12:30 a.m. and if you are asleep by 2 I presume that's about normal. Then you have to get up at 6 to help take the kids to school? Pick them up at 2:30 and get back to work by 3:30 and do it all over again?? Life's too short. Get out now. With your hours your kids will resent you when you miss their sports, their night-time plays, etc.

 

[Fredrick]

I'm very close to leaving and I sure as hell won't miss it. I'm ****ing sick of all the bull**** rules, bull**** managers, bull**** pay and bull**** bull****. **** newspapers. I'll never read or buy another one the day I walk out that door and that day is coming soon.

Exactly. You said it all.

 

[Fredrick]

I thought I'd end up freelancing a little bit more than I do when I made the switch ... but when I started weighing the benefits of making an extra $75-125 here or there versus free time and not burning out, not burning out won out. I still do some work for football and basketball preseason mags and may help out with the odd golf tournament since I'm probably staffing it anyway, but I think my days of picking up random college games at night on weekdays are done. Could be talked into picking up a Saturday day game, I suppose, but then again, I found I really liked being a fan on Saturdays this past fall, so who knows.

We talk a lot about the grind and the process here, and I enjoyed it to a certain extent. But toward the end, when I started doing more and more for the paper (including picking up a non-sports beat of sorts), asked for a raise and got kindly told none were coming, it was really the last straw. Who the hell wants to work 24/7 essentially for mid-size newspaper pay, especially when friends who were younger and in more normal working hour jobs were making close to twice what you were making? People kept telling me I was doing a great job, yada yada. Nice to hear, but I knew deep down that I was half assing it because there's only so much you can give to a job that gives little back and leads you into financial peril.

Amen on half assing it. The bean counters think we do it anyway so if one can half ass it, by all means go for it.