You're on deadline ... and an emergency strikes

[kingcreole]

Last night, I'm doing my postgame interviews for the junior college team I cover. Cell phone rings. Queencreole is in tears. Princecreole has something wrapped around one of his toes. It's digging into the skin. She can't cut the thing wrapped around his toe off. The circulation to his toe is getting cut off. Princecreole (8 months old) is screaming like I've never heard him scream before. Queencreole and friendcreole are taking princecreole to the emergency room.

Obviously, I'm in a panic especially considering my wife rarely cries. I call my boss and tell him I'm leaving. The college's SID, a former SE who still does some stringer work for us, volunteers to write the story. So of course, everything in that regard worked out.

Princecreole, by the way, is fine. It was a hair and how it got wrapped around that toe so tightly we'll never know. The hair had already dug underneath the skin and his toe was pretty red. Infection is possible but not likely. Doctor used a special tweezer scissors to dig under the poor bugger's toe. If you ever have a situation like this, we've been told Nair will dissolve the hair and would be safe to use in that situation.

Any way, the question here is, what do you do if you're covering one of your paper's main beats and an emergency arises, and nobody can come to your aid to write for you? Tell the wife/kid to wait a couple hours? **** no. Is the story/coverage SOL?

 

[Kable]

First off, I hope everything is better now, and I hope your son is doing better and resting that toe.

Second, it's hard to say. It's like a double-edged sword. Livelyhood vs. fam. Fam always comes first. I would just get a statement or two and bounce. Hopefully, you had some sort of laptop so you could make deadline. That's probably how I would deal, but I hope to never get in that situation.

 

[Ace]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Family comes first.

In the future, though, think ahead and shave your kid's toes.

 

[boots]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Family comes first.

In the future, though, think ahead and shave your kid's toes.

As much as I don't like to agree with Ace (smile), he's right. NO STORY is more important than your family. Anyone who tells you differently is wrong. I have had to check out of games and on the desk a couple of times because of family emergencies. It happens.
In the end, you'll discover that the paper came out and usually on time. Life goes on.

 

[spnited]

Health issue with an eight-month-old or writing a gamer?
No brainer.
And if your boss doesn't understand why you chose your kid's health, he needs to be shot and/or you need to find a new gig.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

The paper always gets out. Maybe not on time, but it gets out.

 

[CU_Buffalo_Gal]

I agree with everyone that family has to come first. My husband and I just adopted a little boy and I am finding that I have to change my priorities completely. No more working "just 15 more minutes" and then getting home an hour late.

But I also want to say that this is the fourth time in a couple months that I have heard about this happening to a baby. People, check your kids' toes!!!

 

[wickedwritah]

It's one thing if you're within driving distance. What do you do if you're on the road and you can't get a flight back?

 

[boots]

It's one thing if you're within driving distance. What do you do if you're on the road and you can't get a flight back?

That too has happened. In that instance, you use your head. Obviously, if there is no need to get back, try as best as you can to complete your assignment. Once, I was so shaken that I couldn't complete the assignment. The editor understood.

 

[Ace]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Family comes first.

In the future, though, think ahead and shave your kid's toes.

As much as I don't like to agree with Ace (smile), he's right. NO STORY is more important than your family. Anyone who tells you differently is wrong. I have had to check out of games and on the desk a couple of times because of family emergencies. It happens.
In the end, you'll discover that the paper came out and usually on time. Life goes on.

boots, I thought we were pals. You said you had my back.

 

[Idaho]

Screw deadline. You've got a little baby digit to save.

 

[boots]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Family comes first.

In the future, though, think ahead and shave your kid's toes.

As much as I don't like to agree with Ace (smile), he's right. NO STORY is more important than your family. Anyone who tells you differently is wrong. I have had to check out of games and on the desk a couple of times because of family emergencies. It happens.
In the end, you'll discover that the paper came out and usually on time. Life goes on.

boots, I thought we were pals. You said you had my back.

You know me with backs. All kidding aside, emergencies do happen and if an editor is that cold hearted, it's time to look elsewhere for employment.

 

[Ace]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Family comes first.

In the future, though, think ahead and shave your kid's toes.

As much as I don't like to agree with Ace (smile), he's right. NO STORY is more important than your family. Anyone who tells you differently is wrong. I have had to check out of games and on the desk a couple of times because of family emergencies. It happens.
In the end, you'll discover that the paper came out and usually on time. Life goes on.

boots, I thought we were pals. You said you had my back.

You know me with backs. All kidding aside, emergencies do happen and if an editor is that cold hearted, it's time to look elsewhere for employment.

You are correct sir.

 

[Gold]

You did the right thing. And it appears the story got in the paper.

I remember I started working in the 1970s and the mentality was that nobody cared, even if it was for six-paragraph story on a suburban board of education. Another time in the 1990s I was covering a game where the fog was so bad it might have been dangerous to drive back to the office. My editor said they could get the game in the following day's paper if need be, and nothing was worth getting in an accident about. That is the right thing to do.

 

[outofplace]

I've never had an emergency exactly like that, but I hope I would have the sense to put my family first. Even bosses who are generally assholes have the sense to be understanding when it counts.

I have had a couple of bosses along the way that I thought were pretty cold-hearted about stuff like this. I was working for one the night my father passed away.

He had been terminally ill for months and it was my first day back in the office after visiting for four or five days. I get a call from my brother telling me that I should talk to my father right then if I ever wanted to again. I went into an empty conference room in the office and I can't even begin to describe that phone call, though it was years ago.

Once I got off the phone I went to tell my boss the situation. I barely even started and he cut me off and sent me home. Told me to be back when I can be back, which ended up being over a week later. Maybe it was class. Maybe it was him realizing I'd be useless anyway. Either way, he did the right thing.

Needless to say, the paper got out without me. My boss and the ME, who I also had the occasional disagreement with, couldn't have been more supportive.

Family always has to come first. If you don't get that, rent "Click," so Adam Sandler and co. can beat you over the head with it.

 

[kingcreole]

I'd like to think most SEs, MEs, etc. would do the right thing, like mine did. Essentially shrug off the notion of work during a crisis. But we all know there are some cold-hearted ****sticks out there who wouldn't.

 

[spinning27]

Sounds like everything worked out fine.

My question is this, and I'm not trying to be a ****, but what made you answer the phone? If I'm on deadline and get a call that isn't from an editor, I don't answer or check the message until I file.

 

[kingcreole]

Sounds like everything worked out fine.

My question is this, and I'm not trying to be a ****, but what made you answer the phone? If I'm on deadline and get a call that isn't from an editor, I don't answer or check the message until I file.

Very few people have my cell number, and almost anyone who knows me knows when I'm covering games. I knew it wasn't the SID since he was standing next to me, and I have a special ring on my phone for familiar numbers. That familiar ring rang, so I knew it was a regular number. The caller ID said it was my home, so the Instinct Alarm went off, I guess you could say. It's unusual for my cell phone to ring, especially now that my wife has her own tracfone.

 

[Ace]

I'll probably get jumped for this, and I want to make it clear I'm not criticizing, but I don't really understand why your wife didn't just go to the ER. That's what I would have done. That's what my wife would have done.

You ever dealt with a screaming baby?

 

[Lugnuts]

CU Buffalo Gal -- Congrats !!! :D

king, that's a great idea to have an emergency or "home" ringtone.

But stop and think about it - it's sports. If I'd been covering Ford's funeral or a presidential press conference, and an emergency happened -- I'd be outta there in a second. And this is sports we're talking about.

But let's say you're covering the World Series or something and your paper can't get anyone to cover you. So they run wire copy. The world goes on.