Hangovers, unemployment and the biz

The good news about being unemployed is that one is allowed to nurse one's hangover for as long as need be. For me, today that nursing period appears to be lasting well past noon. To which I say "who the hell cares!"

The hangover is of course the result of DTN's Christmas party last night. It was a great party filled with lots of delicious food and free drinks oh and MC and I got our booties on the dance floor more than once! DTN sure knows how to throw a party. The only dim part of the evening was when I had to approach my boss at DTN and ask for a meeting today. It was quite obvious to him that I needed to talk because I was done with my resident manager duties. He was kind enough to say he'd work with us on our lease but also mentioned a potential job opportunity for me.
While I'm sure the job is great and DTN is a wonderful company I'm not sure it'd be the right fit for me. Of course I'm not saying no because I know nothing about the position and who knows what the future will bring. However, this brings up a problem I'm sure a lot of unemployed people deal with. Do you take a job just to have a job.

It may sound insane and probably is, but there are a lot of reason I want to stay in the news paper business. And no, one of the reasons is not because I am filled with self hate.
The reasons have more to do with the fact that I believe in the business and while it might be changing, reporters are always going to be needed. A perfect example is what happened just a few months ago in Detroit. If it weren't for a few dedicated reporters Kwame Kilpatrick may still be acting mayor of a city that so needs someone not corrupt in charge.
I was lucky enough to meet one of those reporter, M.L. Elrick a couple of weeks ago at MSU during the Neal Shine Ethics Lecture. We spoke through e-mail following his visit at MSU and I admitted to him that while I may never uncover a story about a corrupt mayor I just might and to me that makes staying in the business worth it. (In all honestly, I'm more likely to discover the perfect cheeseburger or how to decorate your home with $100 but if you can't see how important that is than you should probably stop reading this blog)

Speaking of Neal Shine, he's another reason. A true pioneer of the business and a good friend of my grandfather Jim Fitzgerald, another reason I stay in the business. My grandfather, who I admire greatly was editor of the County Press in Lapeer and a columnist for the Freep for years and just reading anything he wrote reminds me why I want to do what I do. (It doesn't hurt that he was a bit of a local celebrity and I'm an attention whore who hopes to one day appear on the "Today" show b/c of my writing genius).

My aunts, my uncle and my dad are also part of the biz.
I started a paper route at 9-years-old and have been in the biz ever since. Leaving it to do anything, no matter if it's leasing apartments or marketing or selling shoes will be rough and in a way admitting a defeat I just don't think I'm ready to admit.
Of course I haven't exactly felt the pinch of unemployment yet, so we'll see.

Anyway, for now I'm going to watch episodes of "Intervention" on On Demand b/c for real watching people with real problems like addiction, makes me feel so much better about my life.