Yesterday was my first day back to work after a wonderfully fun vacation! I'll post about my trip in the next day or two but yesterday my goal was just to get acclimated back to having to work. While out last week, I watched literally no news and very little television that wasn't Noggin' or Disney. Apparently a lot when on in the world because I had approximately 1700 e-mails to read through when I got back to work. I was really hoping that my assignment yesterday wasn't going to catch me completely off guard as I was still catching up.
My normal assignment yesterday was to produce the news package for the evening news shows which is my least favorite task at work. But it was my turn. And the piece was fine. It was about POTUS signing legislation banning tobacco advertising for kids but also about his own personal struggle with his addiction to cigarettes. (As an aside, the one time I was six inches away from him, I smelled no cigarette smoke on his breath but I seriously think he sneaks a cigarette on a fairly regular basis.) Anyway, the story was short, sweet, to the point, and a little bit of a crash but it turned out okay.
Then about 30 minutes before I was going to leave work, someone came running through our bureau saying "if you're not doing anything, you need to run up to the newsroom." Technically, I was done with my assignment and after some prodding by others, I went upstairs. Big mistake. The bureau chief was on several phones at the same time and saying "Every producer HAS to go to the scene of the Metro crash. It's a huge story!" Actually, there might have been some screaming and more choice words. I turned on the local news and realized that it was a big story and one with possible huge devastation. I actually had no idea where the crash site was and I really, really wanted to go home so I decided to look busy at my desk. About ten minutes later, I was assigned to go to Howard University Hospital to wait for victims. And while I had a horrible attitude towards having to go, I grabbed my intern and we headed up there. This situation was completely out of my comfort zone. I'm used to dealing with POTUS, not breaking news situations but I quickly figured the lay of the land (once I finally found Howard University Hospital). We were there for a few hours and saw the ambulances pulling in with victims. I wasn't close to the accident scene so I didn't experience the epitome of the breaking news environment but luckily I got an interview with the doctor who treated some of the victims and so it looked like I had done a lot of work! :) I was truly just glad that the accident didn't kill more people (although my heart goes out to the 9 people who did die) and things seemed fairly calm by the time I left the hospital last night. Thanks for those who called to check on me but I rarely ride the Metro and never on that route! I am praying for those who were injured and lost loved ones yesterday. It was quite a tragedy.
No comments:
Post a Comment