Saturday, February 5, 2011

People who inspire

Hey,

I've talked a lot lately about things that annoy me but not everything annoys me.

Tonight I went to a BBQ and saw my favourite person I've ever worked with (at a proper job, not at Journalism school coz there were people I loved working with there too.)
I wasn't expecting him to be there and he wasn't expecting me to be there but we were.
This man was incredible, is incredible.
To understand how incredible this man is, you first have to understand that I HATED my job.
The extent to which I hated my job was that every day I had a headache and the nerves and stress made me feel sick to my stomach most days. In the morning I didn't want to wake up but I FORCED myself to drag myself out of bed every day and go to work EARLY because I was always so behind (not entirely my fault).
I worked at a daily paper and that meant daily deadlines and that meant stress beyond stress.
So anyway, this colleague of mine only worked three days a week at the time (he now works every day, lucky bastards who still work there get extra time with him), Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
So, needless to say, those three days of the week were the days when I could easily get out of bed. Just the thought of him being at work made me almost jump out of bed and rush to work.
Well, that last part was a little bit of a hyperbole but when I was thinking at 6am "why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee", he would pop into my head and I'd feel more like going to work rather than just having a day off.
Because of this man, I almost didn't leave the job I had, despite the fact I was stressed, sick, totally unhappy and lonely, just because the thought of not seeing him every day (for three days a week), broke my heart and made me feel sad.
I'm not sure what it was about this man. It wasn't a crush because he's much, much older than me, so it's nothing sexual or lovey dovey but maybe it was just his personality, he always made me smile (or even laugh), he always took the time to just sit at my desk and talk to me (despite the fact we both always had looming deadlines), we could joke around and it just felt good.

Tonight was just like old times, we talked for a while about old times, how things had changed at the paper in just six months I'd been gone and we joked about things we used to joke about, such as the fact we believed he'd been around since basically before the dinosaurs. In fact, we believed he probably invented the dinosaurs. Which, I guess is only funny if you know the atmosphere of my former newsroom and the humour that happened within those walls.

I miss him so much. When I was talking to someone tonight about him later on, I began to feel quite emotional when I explained that I almost stayed in the job I hated just so I could still see this man and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to that job, just because he's there.
I learnt so much from him. Not only was he a fun guy, he was also one of the most amazing writers I've ever come across in Journalism.
Some people, when they write news, they just report the facts, plain, simple and straight as a ruler but not this man. This man wrote with a flair, so often lacking in Journalism. He really told a story, as well as using the facts. It was really quite incredible to read and I wish I had time to learn more and read more of his work.

I actually wrote him a letter when I left, just because I needed to honestly tell him how I felt. He really appreciated it too. He's a total legend, and I'm not just saying that because I adore him, it's true, everyone knows him around town, he's lived 'round there most of his life so he's really well known and loved by everyone who has met him.

So, sometimes people change your life, at times when you least expect it.

I've also had a favourite teacher at every school I've ever been to (which is quite a few) and I'm sure this will continue in years to come, a favourite lecturer at university, a favourite colleague at any job I have.
Some people are just incredible, so much so, you just feel the need to tell the world and tell them, exactly how you feel about that person.

I often hear older people talk about the people who changed their lives, the legends and why they were so legendary and I know that I'll talk about this man when I'm an old reporter or just an older person in general. Some people are unforgettable and he's one of them. The day he passes away will be an extremely sad one, not just for me but for everyone who knows him and for anyone who reads the newspaper because as someone I interviewed once said "If I could have one wish, it would be to write like him."
And that, my friends, is a HUGE compliment. That style, class and flair is unbeaten.

V.

1 comment:

  1. Special Agent Finally-Found-A-WayFebruary 18, 2011 at 10:31 AM

    Finally found my inspiration and a way to deal with it and to mention some of the people who inspire me! Have a look here: http://tiny.cc/dv8og I blogged about it because all of it would have been far tooo much for a comment here. :)

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