I get to do tons of stuff I wouldn't normally do. For example, I dragged my entire family to the West Jordan Days a couple weekends ago. There was free stuff all over, so many activities for kids to do, and I wouldn't have been there in a million years if it weren't for my "having" to be there.
Last night, I had to go to the W. Jordan police department where they were training a new police dog. As I was getting ready to leave--quotes safely in my notebook and pictures stashed away in my camera--one of the police officers asked me if I wanted to put on the "bite suit" and let the dog attack me. Of course not, but then I thought, why not? Hopefully, and I do mean hopefully, I'll never have another chance to be attacked by a police dog. So I did it. I put on the 50-pound outfit and whinced in fear as the dog came barking and barreling at me, knocking me off my feet twice. (see picture below)
Another reason I love it: my editor Mark actually tells us what a great job we do. Although I am getting paid, just to get compliments on my writing is worth more to me than the money. After having some of the worst bosses in the country--no wait, the world--I can definitely appreciate being appreciated.
I found out last week that the Deseret Morning News got rid of their zones, eliminating their section which is equivalent to the Close-up section for the Tribune. It was rumored the Tribune was doing the same. Fortunately, it didn't but they reorganized the zones to make five, instead of eight. I nearly lost my job and as I was reading the email from the editor, I realized that I cared about my job a lot more than I let myself believe. I love putting the words of my articles together, talking to people about different subjects, and especially seeing my name in print. I don't mind the paychecks either.
At the end of the traumatizing email explaining close-up's destiny, Mark acknowledged each one of us. Mark said to the entire group that I was (and I quote here) "a fine writer." Embarassingly, I kept returning to the email that night, reading it over and over. I never look at my paychecks that much.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm grateful for my job.
