Wisconsin is at the center of the political universe today with the primary. Actually, it's been the center for about a week now. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Mike Huckabee have all spent a good deal of time touring the dairy state this past week. I hope they enjoyed the stay. Wisconsin is a pretty great state!
I must admit it feels weird to be out of the media loop this primary. I know I keep saying the same thing over and over. I sound like a broken record. There’s this weird camaraderie in TV news to begin with, or at least there was at my station. That feeling gets more intense on election night.
The group of producers that I worked with had known each other for so long that we developed this shorthand. I knew that Gary liked to break the tension with movie lines (mainly from “Office Space” and “Animal House”) and occasionally with lines from Beatles songs.
I knew that a picture of a Panda or a really cute dog would cheer Erin up… although candy usually worked too. And a good dirty joke always won Rob over. Amy and I relieved stress by cruising the celebrity trash websites for dirt on our favorite stars. Sometimes we needed to toss a Nerf football. Sometimes we needed to take a walk back to the art department.
I must admit it feels weird to be out of the media loop this primary. I know I keep saying the same thing over and over. I sound like a broken record. There’s this weird camaraderie in TV news to begin with, or at least there was at my station. That feeling gets more intense on election night.
The group of producers that I worked with had known each other for so long that we developed this shorthand. I knew that Gary liked to break the tension with movie lines (mainly from “Office Space” and “Animal House”) and occasionally with lines from Beatles songs.
I knew that a picture of a Panda or a really cute dog would cheer Erin up… although candy usually worked too. And a good dirty joke always won Rob over. Amy and I relieved stress by cruising the celebrity trash websites for dirt on our favorite stars. Sometimes we needed to toss a Nerf football. Sometimes we needed to take a walk back to the art department.
As random emails from my former co-workers appeared in my inbox throughout the day (Erin left the “election theme music” on my voicemail!!!! hilarious!) I realized I was missing out on that excitement. I don’t miss working till god-knows-when, but I do miss being “in the know.” I miss stalking the wires for the latest returns. I miss coordinating live shots in the control room. Producing the perfect election cut-in, praying there would be results to show. I miss yelling at people in the stress of the moment, and knowing that later things will be okay, because things said under deadline stress don’t count.
I really felt like I was part of the democratic process on election night. It was a pretty cool job, and I'm glad to know that I got to be part of the process for a decade. I'm also glad I've moved on and found a job doing something I feel good about, that I enjoy, and that allows me more time with my family. 
No comments:
Post a Comment