Monday, February 9, 2009

Where do you see yourself years from now?

I like, and occasionally love, my job even though it's hard to work in a fantasy land. By that, I mean I want to work in a real place. Right now I report in a town where people tell me things are so difficult in this recession that they haven’t bought a new car in three years. Their driveways are full of SUVs and European cars.

The biggest issue in schools was the possibility of class starting half an hour earlier. One lady said she moved out from the vicinity of another school that changed the start time. What she means is that she spent at least $1 million dollars on a new house so her kid could sleep in half an hour more. Maybe I’m being unfair in judging the price of her new home, but the average cost of a home here is approximately $1 million.

I make less than $25,000 a year. I’d never be able to own anything here.

From the crowded streets, McMansions sprout like ugly mushrooms. The developers try to make them to look like some of the remaining old-fashioned homes in town and they do a poor job of doing so. They’re just too big and too gaudy to be passed off as quaint.

It’s not that I wouldn’t like living here. Hell, if I was rich I’d probably be more than happy to buy up an obnoxious home and waste the days away. I’d also love to raise my kids in a safe town where the schools are topnotch and education is highly valued. I don’t plan on having kids anytime soon, so this doesn’t apply.

I just don't want to be that comfortable - at least for now.

My ideal place to work would be a shitty city where punks sling drugs on the corners, the system is failing and people have a right to be fired up and pissed off. Real, serious problems need to be prevalent. The thing with nice places is that people seem to invent problems just because it’s the natural thing not to be totally satisfied.

I want murders and corruption, but it isn’t because they make “easy” news stories. I’m always reminded that elsewhere in this country and the world, things are severely fucked up. Here I am on my laptop with my only real problem is that my girlfriend left me and I’m going to have to save a couple more weeks to buy upgrade my ancient laptop.

Changes need to be made in this country and the rest of the world. I could do the Peace Corps, which sounds like an amazing program, but I’d can't spend that much time off in a small village. I need more stimulation. Reporting on wide-spread issues and enacting change is any reporter’s dream, though I’m not in it for the bylines or the fame. I just don’t want to waste life away in a comfortably numb stupor while other people are profoundly suffering. I don’t know exactly what I want, but I want it in a couple years.

2 comments:

Meghan said...

Unfortunately, I was told many years ago that "$1 million will not buy you a nice home in Greenwich", and this is still true. I think the average house price is way more than a million in some of these areas! Remember I was told I was from "the ghetto" when I was in school because of the city I live in!

I agree with what you are saying but I definitely don't think it would be a good idea to work in a scary place full of crime and violence. You don't want to end up with the headline "Reporter Gets Slain Covering Story"!

Anthony said...

But I wouldn't mind writing the story "Reporter Gets Slain Covering Story"!

I kid, I kid.