Some of you worry me.
A part of my duties here at WLBG involve being the conductor of the orchestra we call our Morning Newsmagazine. It’s a fast paced format with a lot of things coming at you once……….at least from where I sit.
I coordinate Weather from WYFF 4 meteorologist Dale Gilbert, FOX News at the top and bottom of each hour, Sports with either John Avery or Gene Pinson or both, WLBG Local News with Emil Finley. On top of that I do Real Time Traffic at a quarter past and a quarter til each hour plus lottery updates and birthdays and anniversaries.
Sound simple enough? Well, did I tell you that it all has to be timed out precisely? Certain elements of the show MUST start at their appointed time. If something else is not quite finished and still playing then………well, it’s a mess.
Somehow it generally works well. Yeah, once in a while we have a catastrophe but so far we’ve been able to handle them pretty much in stride. The only thing that causes me to shake my head is…………… Birthdays.
No, it’s not because the speaker on our answering machine isn’t all that great and sometimes I have a hard time understanding folk. It’s not even because people name their poor children some pretty odd things. I’ve heard a couple names that I’m pretty sure is Arabic for ‘2 humped camel with bad breath’.
The thing that amazes and frustrates me?.................birthday fights. Okay, it goes like this: I get a message wanting me to wish little JamalyahBooBoo a happy 2nd birthday from her grandmother. I’m also asked to mention her daddy and aunts and uncles. No problem.
Then, 10 minutes later I get a call from the child’s mother. She wants to be added to the list of well wishers. I comply. The next time I read the birthday list I include ‘Mom’ on the list wishing JamalyahBooBoo a happy birthday. No problem? Yeah, that’s what you’d think.
The phones light up and Grandma is angry. She demands that I remove Mom from the list because SHE didn’t tell me to include Mom. Now, I’m not going to do that.
I will admit that there exists today some strange definitions of the word family. I will also admit that I don’t know what dynamics exist within this particular family. But I do know that if a lady calls me and asks that I include her, the child’s mother, in the birthday wishes for her 2 year old child………..I will.
Grandma is still screaming when I hang up. She keeps calling back. She wants to tell me all about how bad Mom is. She tells me that she, Grandma, is a Christian and then lets loose with a string of profanity.
Please. I don’t mind announcing birthdays. But, family fights? Naw, I'd rather not.
There, got that off my chest.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Listen for the Rumble
On Saturday (17 January) I got on a motorcycle when the thermometer said to do no such thing. It was 18 degrees as I left Whitmire heading to Jonesville, SC for a Patriot Guard mission.
Staff Sergeant Kenneth Jason Wilburn of the United States Air Force was just 30 years old. He died three days after he passed out in a swimming pool at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He was in the middle of training to become a combat controller…….the guys who call in precision air strikes.
Jason was what you might call ‘gung ho’. He was in the Air Force but he’d already been through Army Ranger school. He loved jump missions and had been trained in rescue to retrieve downed pilots from danger.
Jason told people as a teenager he wanted to make something of himself. He chose the military as his career and was proud to be an Airman. He leaves behind a little girl named Megan who is nine and a wife expecting his second child. His wife couldn’t even attend the funeral because doctors said her pregnancy wouldn’t be able to stand another trip.
I spoke with Jason’s Mom and StepDad Saturday and I asked them an unusual question. Quiet or loud? We ride big ol’ loud motorcycles but we generally try and keep them as quiet as possible….I mean……it’s a funeral. But for some reason I felt it was important to ask.
“That boy loved to be the center of attention” his Mother said………..”make it as loud as you can”.
Now, to make it loud I needed motorcycles and more than just a few. I was hoping for thirty but it was very cold and who could blame folks for staying home on a day like that. The riders started coming in……….one or two at the time. By the time for our briefing we had thirty-five motorcycles ready with some very cold bikers upon them.
We have a motto of sorts in the Patriot Guard in South Carolina…………listen for the rumble. On Saturday the rumble became a bit of a roar in Jonesville and Jason Wilburn was the center of attention in his hometown.
I have to tell you……….I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and exceedingly proud of this bunch of patriots who endured some pretty miserable conditions to honor a young man they didn’t know. His family knew that they were not alone…….that Americans appreciated the service and the sacrifice of their Jason.
Each time I ride an Honor Mission with the Patriot Guard I hope it’s the last one. I hope that again.
www.patriotguard.org
Staff Sergeant Kenneth Jason Wilburn of the United States Air Force was just 30 years old. He died three days after he passed out in a swimming pool at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He was in the middle of training to become a combat controller…….the guys who call in precision air strikes.
Jason was what you might call ‘gung ho’. He was in the Air Force but he’d already been through Army Ranger school. He loved jump missions and had been trained in rescue to retrieve downed pilots from danger.
Jason told people as a teenager he wanted to make something of himself. He chose the military as his career and was proud to be an Airman. He leaves behind a little girl named Megan who is nine and a wife expecting his second child. His wife couldn’t even attend the funeral because doctors said her pregnancy wouldn’t be able to stand another trip.
I spoke with Jason’s Mom and StepDad Saturday and I asked them an unusual question. Quiet or loud? We ride big ol’ loud motorcycles but we generally try and keep them as quiet as possible….I mean……it’s a funeral. But for some reason I felt it was important to ask.
“That boy loved to be the center of attention” his Mother said………..”make it as loud as you can”.
Now, to make it loud I needed motorcycles and more than just a few. I was hoping for thirty but it was very cold and who could blame folks for staying home on a day like that. The riders started coming in……….one or two at the time. By the time for our briefing we had thirty-five motorcycles ready with some very cold bikers upon them.
We have a motto of sorts in the Patriot Guard in South Carolina…………listen for the rumble. On Saturday the rumble became a bit of a roar in Jonesville and Jason Wilburn was the center of attention in his hometown.
I have to tell you……….I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and exceedingly proud of this bunch of patriots who endured some pretty miserable conditions to honor a young man they didn’t know. His family knew that they were not alone…….that Americans appreciated the service and the sacrifice of their Jason.
Each time I ride an Honor Mission with the Patriot Guard I hope it’s the last one. I hope that again.
www.patriotguard.org
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