March 11 Letting it all Go
Recently I told my son that if he didn't "Buckle Down" he would "Wind up working in a gas station!" I was astounded to hear myself say this for two reasons. 1. I don't believe I've ever said anything like that before. 2. Gas station work is in these current days just grocery store work. When I was a young man you got a job in a gas station if your only other talent was slobbering. Gas station attendants used to pump your gas,wipe your windshield,check your oil, and try to trick you into buying new wipers. Now you can only get such service from homeless guys on street corners or at Jiffy Lube. My own sister works at a Speedway, but she didn't buckle down in school.
What bothers me here is my use of the phrase "Buckle Down." I don't talk like that! Nobody has talked like that since my mother had a massive stroke. So I've decided to find all the useless and ridiculous phrases that are festering in my head and let them go. Awlrighty?
I have wound up working at a television station. It's a great big one in a great big market. I worked for many years in little tv stations and slowly inched my way up to the big time. I am a Director, a very responsible and skilled position that once explained, causes peoples eyes to glaze over, and makes them say "So what then, you run a camera?" I almost always say "Yes" because it's just not necessary for anyone to know or care. Sometimes I say "Steven Spielberg is a director, we belong to the same union!" When I say that I'm usually drunk and whoever I'm talking to has to go to the restroom suddenly. My main job is to pump tv shows, wipe your tv screen, and try to trick you into buying a myriad of things via well produced commercials. I didn't buckle down in school either.
Recently my wife told me, for very personal reasons, that I need to find another job. She studied broadcasting in college, did some radio work, and threw me out of the house the day after christmas. It's hard to explain to her that jobs like mine are hard to find, but she tells me that she knows all about my job and that a man like me can find work running a camera anywhere. My job is kind of like leading an orchestra. A TV show is put together and broadcast by a large team of producers and technicians. Elements must be gathered, scripts written, cameras operated, tapes edited, talent ass kissed, live shots established, and commercials scheduled. I put the show on the air by directing people to perform their jobs in a precise and timely manner. The shows I direct are live and there is no stopping, no rests, and no mulligans when you make a mistake. I must know everyone's job so I can go about making them do the jobs that they don't really like, are too good for, or jobs that can't be performed that well while drunk or high on cocaine. When something goes horribly wrong it is my responsibilty, so therefore my job is considered "High Stress." I like my job most of the time, and I have been lucky enough to find one that pays better than working in a gas station. I'll wait until yo
What bothers me here is my use of the phrase "Buckle Down." I don't talk like that! Nobody has talked like that since my mother had a massive stroke. So I've decided to find all the useless and ridiculous phrases that are festering in my head and let them go. Awlrighty?
I have wound up working at a television station. It's a great big one in a great big market. I worked for many years in little tv stations and slowly inched my way up to the big time. I am a Director, a very responsible and skilled position that once explained, causes peoples eyes to glaze over, and makes them say "So what then, you run a camera?" I almost always say "Yes" because it's just not necessary for anyone to know or care. Sometimes I say "Steven Spielberg is a director, we belong to the same union!" When I say that I'm usually drunk and whoever I'm talking to has to go to the restroom suddenly. My main job is to pump tv shows, wipe your tv screen, and try to trick you into buying a myriad of things via well produced commercials. I didn't buckle down in school either.
Recently my wife told me, for very personal reasons, that I need to find another job. She studied broadcasting in college, did some radio work, and threw me out of the house the day after christmas. It's hard to explain to her that jobs like mine are hard to find, but she tells me that she knows all about my job and that a man like me can find work running a camera anywhere. My job is kind of like leading an orchestra. A TV show is put together and broadcast by a large team of producers and technicians. Elements must be gathered, scripts written, cameras operated, tapes edited, talent ass kissed, live shots established, and commercials scheduled. I put the show on the air by directing people to perform their jobs in a precise and timely manner. The shows I direct are live and there is no stopping, no rests, and no mulligans when you make a mistake. I must know everyone's job so I can go about making them do the jobs that they don't really like, are too good for, or jobs that can't be performed that well while drunk or high on cocaine. When something goes horribly wrong it is my responsibilty, so therefore my job is considered "High Stress." I like my job most of the time, and I have been lucky enough to find one that pays better than working in a gas station. I'll wait until yo
4 Comments:
Now that slobbering is no longer desireable in the petrolium-based fuel dispensing market it's very hard for me to find work, too. At least I'm still qualified to do weather.
-MW
By KekoTheKeelerWell, at 11:37 PM
I can relate to the "buckle down"
speech and I found it rolled off my
back like water on a duck.
Searching and dreaming are our friends in this train we ride and when the train ride ends,please let off at the entrance of a bar that displays a fuschia neon sign.
I walk in with a "strat" in hand,
cut my way through a smoke cloud to a stage of guitarist that the welcomes me.
By Anonymous, at 11:35 AM
So you work in television...like Walter Jacobson? Do you know Kathy and Judy? I belive Fred Friendly started as a gas jockey in the early days. Do you think he buckled down?
By Skokie Shakes, at 5:19 PM
...rock, rock-n-roll buddy face...well I shot that $@3&*....all over her face.
Tater, down the old DX station loved his job.
ms
By Anonymous, at 11:07 AM
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