Notebook Peekers

[HeinekenMan]

I was covering a meeting last week, and an old shriveled lady was behaving as if she was either the rudest person on the planet or half-drunk. First, she sat in my chair and then protested obnoxiously when I came back to my seat after talking to the mayor. I would have plopped into another chair, but all of my stuff was under her legs.

Anyway, after objecting, she sat next to me and then kept staring at my notebook. I mean, she was actually leaning to the side and peering at everything I wrote for several minutes as if she was judging my coverage based upon what I did or didn't write.

What should I have done? I'm a push-over. So I didn't do a thing. But I really wanted to call her out on it.

 

[spnited]

Re: Notebook Peakers

Annoying old lady.. you just have to let it slide.
Not worth the time or energy getting upset about it.

 

[Moderator1]

Re: Notebook Peakers

Is peaking like peeking?

 

[JBHawkEye]

Re: Notebook Peakers

That's when you write in your notebook, "Why is this nosy old bat looking at my notebook?"

 

[chazp]

Re: Notebook Peakers

Is peaking like peeking?

Her interest in his notebook was peaking, so she had to start peeking. Nice catch Moddy.

 

[times38]

Re: Notebook Peakers

Is peaking like peeking?

Her interest in his notebook was peaking, so she had to start peeking. Nice catch Moddy.

that would be piquing.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Re: Notebook Peakers

Yes, I just caught my own spelling blunder. I'm now so bleary-eyed that I actually thought for a moment that I had written Notebook Peckers, whatever that might be.

 

[Bob Slydell]

A good karate chop to the throat would have gotten her to mind her own damn business.

 

[Pi]

Stand up and bark "What the EFF lady!?!? No, I won't have sex with you!" That would make some things happen.

 

[joe_schmoe]

every few minutes turn to her and just ask her random questions "How do you spell Taliban?" "Does ammonia and bleach really create a bomb?" "Do you know where I can find some good nitroglycerin?" "Do you know if it's a felony to own illegal weopnary?" "Do you happen to know where the Unibomber is being held?"

 

[Boomer7]

I once had a city council member yell at me, "Write that down!" when an opponent said something objectionable during a council meeting. Far more blatant than a notebook peek.

 

[MartinEnigmatica]

Taking cues from JBH and Pi, you could write down in your notebook, "Hey baby, drinks later? What's your number?"

And playing off Boomer, I love when fans tell me to write something they said down in my notebook. Why, just today I had an old guy tell an ump he sucked in a whole manner of ways, mutter that he wasn't letting the kids play, and said, "And you can write that down in your notebook!"

That'd look great in the paper:
"These umps aren't letting the kids play," Disgruntled Dingleberry Fan said.

 

[Ace]

Heinie,

Be prepared next time. Have a page in your notebook prewritten, flip to it and turn to her with a maniacal grin:


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

 

[hockeybeat]

Dude, it's a little old lady. Why get upset?

It is not like the competition was glancing at your notes.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

Heinie,

Be prepared next time. Have a page in your notebook prewritten, flip to it and turn to her with a maniacal grin:


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

I laughed out loud at this. Nicely played, Ace.

Along those same lines, does anyone else ever get people reading over their shoulders on press row?

I can't stand that -- especially on deadline -- so I write with the screen on my laptop pushed down so low that I barely have enough room for my fingers to hit the keyboard. Co-workers laugh at me, but I find the alternative even more annoying.

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

Along those same lines, does anyone else ever get people reading over their shoulders on press row?

I can't stand that -- especially on deadline -- so I write with the screen on my laptop pushed down so low that I barely have enough room for my fingers to hit the keyboard. Co-workers laugh at me, but I find the alternative even more annoying.

There's a radio guy here that does that when I'm on deadline a lot. Nice guy, but that annoys the **** out of me. One time he asked if it was ok, and I just asked him to wait until I got done.

 

[Cosmo]

Lift a cheek, fart loudly and say, "well, maybe the hot salsa on that burrito was the wrong choice."

 

[forever_town]

That's when you write in your notebook, "Why is this nosy old bat looking at my notebook?"

Well played.

 

[RedCanuck]

.

Along those same lines, does anyone else ever get people reading over their shoulders on press row?

I was guilty of doing that a few years back, when I was volunteering for a team. I'd sit in the back row and write my PR stuff for the web site, but I'd glance at the screens of the veteran guys just to see how their thought processes worked and to see if they had any note-taking skills I could use later on.

Actually, turns out I learned quite a bit from these guys - likely without them knowing - but I certainly wasn't hovering over them or anything. That would drive me insane.

 

[bigpern23]

A simple, "You mind?" would probably work. That, or a donkey punch.