"I appreciate everything you do"

Christmas has come and gone.
Got a lot of decorations to put away.
I'm guessing about 500 feet of green extension cords to fold up. Sure glad I started collecting those a couple years back. The orange ones were difficult to hide when strung all over the yard.

The gifts, for the most part, have been "put in their places".
And, the cards. Oh, what to do with those. Same problem every year. We really want to keep them, but, after a couple years, we just don't know what to do with 'em. Tell me, who really reads them after they're opened the first time?

Save for one. It came on an 8-1/2x11 sheet of paper, and it was included with the traditional Christmas card.

It was from a former co-worker, my former "number 2" in the newsroom. A single parent. A good parent. And, a man who's deep religious feelings have become increasingly more apparent.

Oh, yeah. He, too, lost his job as the station's "management" (a misnomer, for sure) decided to "go in other directions". How long before that excuse goes away, no one knows.
Without going into the mushy parts of his letter, of which I really do appreciate, but will remain mostly private (something about me really being a "softy"???), I do want to share a cople parts that can apply in many similar situations.

He reflects on events over the past couple years...that's when I "left" the station, seeking "other opportunities". Ok, so I am mostly retired. About six months ago, midway through 2010, he got the word to pack his bags. A tough call to get, as he had finally won full custody of his young son. "Hit the bricks, they told him". But, "good luck".

He has expressed no ill will, at least not to me. He has accepted his fate, and he's doing well. Emotionally, at least, and that's where it's needed. In his letter, he says he's looking forward to 2011, and predicts that it "will be an exciting year for both of us". I have no doubt that it will be. He has a great attitude, and I have moved on.

He continues, "...I can see that all of this has been part of some master plan". He credits God with taking "you and me out of a place and industry that was also holding us captive".
"Holding us captive"? The more I thought about that during the holidays, the more I agreed.

That phrase mirrored many conversations I had during the past few months with another former co-worker. She, like this young man, was given the "we're going in a different direction" speech. Oh, yeah. Bravo Sierra.

The more I thought about being held captive, the more I realized just how true it is. It's not like being held captive in a U.S. prison, though. There is light at the end of the tunnel for prisoners. They have a "date of release" they're working with, and a "sense of security", so to speak, knowing what they'll be doing for the next X-number of years. What they do after they're released is up to them. Opportunities may be limited, at first, but with some diligent work and a good attitude, they'll open up.

In broadcast journalism, security doesn't exist. You work for an organization where the news director, the immediate "chief" of the news department, has a normal life expectancy of about two years. If he/she is there longer, then they're dodging the eventual bullet that will take them out. With every change comes a change of direction. The ND's boss, in oh, so many cases, gets nailed regularly. Every 2-3 years. For instance, in my ten years (last stint) at one station (wow! nine of that was as news director...talk about dodging a bullet), we went through 1, 2, 3...FOUR general managers. The third one would likely have lasted for several more years. Until he retired. He was effective, knew how to count on his department heads, and he was popular with his staff (at all levels), and with the citizens in the communities the station served. His tragic, untimely death, in 2008, saw the arrival of, yet, another GM.

And, then, the changes began. Changes for the sake of change, I guess, as the station had ratings that were three and four times greater than the nearest competition. But, truthfully, that gave the new GM an opportunity to "experiment" without fear of dipping down far enough to have an impact on advertising rates.

It also gave me the opportunity to write blogs like this, blogs in which I have opinions. You see, as a journalist, one has no opinion that one can express. At least, not publicly. One must look at all sides, and go all out to present all sides, regardless of how stupid, irreverant, idiotic (ok, I'll stop) the sides might be. It gave me an opportunity to expand my time in the kitchen. I like cooking. It gave me time to fish. I LOVE fishing. And, it gave me more time with my bride, of which I really do cherish.

And, it gave me a chance, thanks to circumstances, to try something that I've neve done before. Retail. And, mechanics. I started working for a marina. Well, in the store-part of the marina, anyway. I sell stuff, write work orders, and I get to TALK to real people. People from all walks of life, but people with a common bond. They like boats.

I have learned a lot in the 8 months I've worked there. Part tme, but it often feels more fulltime (you should see the activity during the summer...I wouldn't have believed it). Since things slacked off with the arrival of colder weather, and "circumstances" that took our owner and chief mechanic out of action for a while (a little surgery keeps him from lifting heavy stuff), I have had the opportunity to learn something about what makes outboard motors tick.

Never one not wanting to learn (I had even explored the possibility of attending one of two community colleges to take their outboard motor maintenance class), I jumped at the chance to work, at my boss's direction, on a 40 horsepower motor that needed to be overhauled. I can tell you that there's not a better feeling than to launch a boat with a motor that you've had apart in a hundred (maybe a couple hundred) pieces, and have it start up and run like a brand new Singer sewing machine.

To top it off, I seized the opportunity to run that boat, on a pretty chilly day, to it's owners, a construction crew working on a bridge project. Not only that, but I picked up a second boat they wanted us to go over, and brought it back. By "ran", I mean I drove, by water, the boat to the contractors, about 5-6 miles from the marina. Please, "don't throw me in the briar patch".

My former co-worker is absolutely right. We were being held captive. By an industry that is unappreciative. My new boss of a half year says, almost every day and in almost every conversation, "I appreicate everything you do". Funny how so few words can mean so much.

Me? I appreicate the opportunity.

Now, that's a lesson for other bosses out there.

Yes, 2011 is going to be a good year.