One of THOSE days

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .You know, the kind of day where you wake up feeling like dirt, but aren’t quite sick enough to stay home so you go in hoping for an easy day. But then you get to the office and quickly realize It won’t be an easy day, but another ten hour shift of marathon newsgathering.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When you find yourself piloting a wobbly live truck all over the Piedmont Triad, watching helplessly as your assignment falls until you and your partner are finally dispatched to a story that’s not going anywhere - a fatal house fire.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When after popping off the obligatory roadside shots of a gutted Grandmother’s home, time stands still as you and your semi-callous news buddies loiter by the highway for what seems like hours only to be rewarded with fifteen seconds of barely-usable firefighter soundbite.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When you find yourself being berated by angry family members who are upset at you for standing at the edge of their personal tragedy with fancy cameras and high powered microphones, even if you’re doing so in a quiet, respectful manner as humanly possible.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When you watch the investigators take down the yellow crime tape and retreat to their favorite greasy spoon while you frantically edit footage, establish a signal and set up lights, tripod and cable - all while inhaling the very finest in Live truck generator fumes.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When you keep quiet behind the viewfinder and think about your own family as your reporter runs down the details of an elderly couple succumbing to the smoke inhalation in their sleep?

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .When at the end of the shift you avoid making eye contact with glaring family members as you roll up cable, take down lights and pack up gear - all the while becoming increasingly convinced you’re wasting your life processing random sadness into easily-digested video morsels for all the Piedmont to ignore over dinner.

You ever have one of THOSE days?

. . .I have, more times than I can count.