My Paper
Nov 5th, 2008 by David Svet
My paper was late this morning and a little of me died in the driveway.
I know, wah-wah-wah. Suck it up, loser. It’s the biggest news day of the year/decade/era. What did you expect? You’re right, I should think nothing of it that my morning Kansas City Star was not sitting in its brightly colored ad baggie at the end of my driveway this morning. But I do think this is a big deal.
My paper was late — not a rare occurrence, but not common either. Today I was excited about getting my paper. It’s an important day. Barack Obama was just elected as the first African-American President of the United States. I wanted to see it in print. I wanted to see how the Star treated the front page. But I couldn’t. My driveway was empty. All the driveways on my street were empty. As I stood in the darkness, I saw the outline of my neighbor at the end of his driveway aimlessly spinning, scanning for his paper, fruitlessly. I slowly walked back in the house, frustrated.
I went online. I checked all of my usual news sites. I learned all I wanted to know. Then I went to the Kansas City Star’s website and a little bit of me died. There before me was most of what I would read when my paper finally arrived. It had been there for hours. They’d even sell me a collector’s edition front page for $39.95. How ironic.
You see, my dad worked in newspapers. We always had lots of them around the house along with newspaper stuff — a Speed Graphic camera, pieces of rotogravure plates, press credentials, print outs from news wire feeds — cool stuff. I learned to draw using scrap newsprint and these really great pencils that he brought home for me. I’d listen to him wailing away at the television journalists about how they weren’t really covering the news and how television would be the death of newspapers. It wasn’t.
But today I died a little. We have just witnessed a sea change in communications and how elections are run with the Obama campaign. It was a brilliant, masterful use of social media. Awe inspiring, ground breaking, game changing in every way. I loved it. I participated in it. It is what I do for a living. I am exhilarated by it. Yet this morning, at the end of my driveway, I died a little bit and remembered my Dad.
Thanks, Dad.
[...] My Paper My paper was late this morning and a little of me died in the driveway. I know, wah-wah-wah. Suck it up, loser. It’s the biggest news day of the year/decade/era. What did you expect? You’re right, I should think nothing of it that my morning Kansas City Star was not sitting in its brightly colored ad baggie at the end of my driveway this morning. But I do think this is a big deal. My paper was late — not a rare occurrence, but not common either. Today I was excited about getting my paper. It’ [...]
I just stopped by your blog and thought I would say hello. I like your site design. Looking forward to reading more down the road.
[...] My Paper My paper was late this morning and a little of me died in the driveway. I know, wah-wah-wah. Suck it up, loser. It’s the biggest news day of the year/decade/era. What did you expect? You’re right, I should think nothing of it that my morning Kansas City Star was not sitting in its brightly colored ad baggie at the end of my driveway this morning. But I do think this is a big deal. My paper was late — not a rare occurrence, but not common either. Today I was excited about getting my paper. It’ [...]
Thanks Jeff. I appreciate your interest. Sorry for taking so long to reply!
David