Tuesday, July 5, 2011

After a Rural Sojourn: Work, Work, Work

I'm putting up a perfunctory post because I am catching up with current events after spending time in the woods and, upon my return to urbanity, working a major fundraising event on the job. I'll have to

The event went well, although it pretty much occupied the entire long weekend. I had a good time, though I spent quite a bit of time running around in an attempt at bilocation after the public left the vicinity, and "i's" needed to be dotted and "t's" crossed.

I did have a run-in with a none-too-bright local freelancer. I knew she'd be a pain in the ass when I saw her in the company of another loopy "journalist" who wasted a lot of people's time after an autumn fundraiser by losing her Blackberry outside, in the dark, in a crowded location, and then pitifully beseeching anyone within earshot to help her look for it (outside, in the dark, in a formerly crowded location, at the end of a long workday- yeah, I've got a gajillion things to do in the course of an eleven hour endurance tour, but I'll help you look for a needle in a haystack). After the event, this individual came to me looking for a soundbite or blurb:

N.T.B.L.F.: "What is the significance of this event?"
B.B.B.B.: "I'm not authorized to make a statement for the organization, you need to talk to the public relations department."
N.T.B.L.F.: "...But the event, why did you choose to do it?"
B.B.B.B.: "I'm not authorized to make a statement for the organization, you need to talk to the public relations department. One of our P.R. reps will be here tomorrow."
N.T.B.L.F.: "I need to finish the story by tomorrow afternoon."


In other words, she wanted me to possibly put my extremely-cushy-except-when-it's-not job in jeopardy because she didn't do her own job properly. Hello, you got a press pass, didn't you call ahead to contact an appropriate representative of the organization? The first time she asked me to give a statement was okay, the second time, she asked, it was annoying, the third time was downright offensive. I enjoy a cordial, yet distant, relationship with the main office- I show up, do what I have to do, and avoid calling negative attention to myself by making unauthorized statements to the press. Part of me wanted to say, "Numbskull, the significance of the event is that we need money to maintain operations- it's a fundraiser!" I could very easily have given her a lofty statement about the event, and it's possible inspiration, but doing so would have been a gross presumption of authority I don't have. To cut her inquiries short without telling her to piss off, I mentioned that a possible inspiration for the event could be found in a nearby location, informed her of a feature of the landscape which suggested the event, and tersely told her that I had a half-dozen tasks I needed to perform pronto.

On a happier note, after the end of the fundraiser yesterday evening, I had to perform a couple of tasks that took me to a portion of the grounds which gave a good vantage of the local fireworks display. If I lingered over these tasks for a good long while, I think I can justify my actions... I didn't want to perform them hastily, thereby botching the job.

7 comments:

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

Some thoughts:

Did you see any tree fairies in da woods? If so, do they bite?

Don't judge flaky women too harshly. Some of us--cough--are rather endearing.

Glad you got to catch some fireworks.

W/v is scraties, which I believe is an advanced form of scabies

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

According to Word, there are 564 words in this perfunctory post.

Don't work so hard, you'll put the rest of us outta bizness!
~

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

Yeah. Quit making us look bad...with your east coast elitist well-written, eloquent entries that arent riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes.

Unknown said...

Don't you love the flaky journo types? Yeah..me neither. Now as for flaky females..watch it Bro, some of us wear that moniker w/pride! ;-P

Anonymous said...

That woman is hilarious. Making your deadline someone else's problem is possibly forgivable when you're a college student, and even then only because it's assumed that you spent most of the intervening evenings doing anything other than actually working on the assignment.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Hey Bastard, you in NY in late August? I will be, sorta kinda.

Just let me know where and when you will be in the area. I'll try to drag Ned and that Carl "Finn Finn" Saladbar guy along for a substantial night.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Don't judge flaky women too harshly. Some of us--cough--are rather endearing.

It's not the "flakiness" that annoys (I dig eccentrics)- it was the "pressing an issue which I made clear was off-limits" that bothers me.

Making your deadline someone else's problem is possibly forgivable when you're a college student, and even then only because it's assumed that you spent most of the intervening evenings doing anything other than actually working on the assignment.

Producers and editors don't give "gentlefolks' C's".