I'm not going to be talking about carnage and destruction today. There's plenty of material on that, and if you want to be depressed then knock yourself out. For my part, I'm going to focus on something far less serious.
Here on the coast we tend to watch for storms on the news, so we can see if we need to board up the windows again. Sometimes it hits us, but a lot of the time it doesn't. Anyway, it's a big deal, and most of us take it seriously. But then, most of us aren't reporters.
During every storm you can see one of these people on every channel. Oh, they sound like rational people, and they have fancy little raincoats, but don't be fooled. Every one of these crazy idiots is a college-educated journalist. Mind-boggling, isn't it? No matter how fast the wind is blowing, no matter how high the water is rising, no matter what sort of danger lurks in the sky, these men and women will gladly stand out in the middle of it... for no reason.
Seriously, is there really a reason for them to do this? We have satellite imagery, eye-witness accounts from people in shelters, we can even use remote cameras if we really want to. Do we really need for some 105 pound woman to tell us that yes, the wind is blowing very hard now? I just wish I could have found a photo of one of those little bikini models with their lipstick and their little designer raincoats... At least I found these. these guys aren't wearing lipstick, of course, but they're still drinking bottled water from the news van just before they interview starving survivors.
I suppose every reporter wants to eventually make his way to the big desk at the network, and I'm sure that the competition is pretty rough. As a result, they've come up with a sort of rite of passage for their younger colleagues. Instead of slapping bears or getting an eagle feather, these people have to stand outside during a hurricane and state the obvious.
There are times, however, when everyone gets what they want. These people want to brave the storms, the older reporters want to put them through hell, and the rest of us watch carefully, just in case one of these lunatics gets hit with a piece of debris. I once saw a woman get pinged in the leg with a piece of styrofoam. That was almost as awesome as the photo on the left. This guy got hit with a piece of a palm tree. That must have been great to see live.
Maybe some of you are wondering if I might be treating these stalwart heroes of journalism a bit too harshly. Perhaps these stunts aren't as unnecessary as I've said. Perhaps they really do take these events seriously. Perhaps they really are reporting from storm sites because they really do care, and not just because it's the only way to climb the news ladder. Well, all I can say to that is... check out this last photo:
-Brian.
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