When I was in high school, it was generally assumed that I would get into sports broadcasting. I had a great voice, I did PA work at the high school, college, and semi-pro levels, knew a lot about the stuff. Once I got into college, I had an internship at WLLZ-FM in Detroit (when they were a rock station) for eight months where I was paid nothing but effectively was a morning show producer, working five hours a morning pulling tapes, editing clips off the satellite for our news guy (the late, great Byron McGregor) and sports guy (some asshole named Mitch Albom), getting coffee for the morning guys (which flipped midstream), and just generally treated like a bitch. And it was at that point that I decided that shit was not for me, if for no reason than, at the age of 19, I felt that my time was worth more than nothing.
(Sidebar: There was another kid who graduated the year after me who did decide to get into sports broadcasting, and he did his thing, working his way up the ranks, and will be a host at Fox Sports 1 when it launches later this year. Ryan Field and I crossed paths at a Cubs game a couple years back when the Tigers were in town (he worked at Fox Sports Detroit for 10 years before he got the call), and we had a laugh that someone from The Scarlet Letter was a success in this business. It just wasn't who everyone put their money on.) Later in life, I wound up mentoring a group of 10 college interns at Campbell-Ewald, ostensibly about how to use a certain type of software, but instead about ad land. I repeatedly told them (especially the attractive female ones) that for every sleaze bag (and I use this not just to describe people, but groups and companies as well) you cross, there are at least two others who aren't. Once you start playing by the sleaze bag's rules, you're in their world. Further, you can't get out of it, because their taint doesn't come out. If you stay out of it, you'll think to yourself you're missing something (they're all going out to get shitfaced four nights a week), but you'll find that you're actually making a career out of it as opposed to going gig jumping. This was in a company known for its sleaze bags, in an industry that's ripe for them. It's been interesting seeing how those interns played out. Some stayed in the business, some didn't (one opened a skate park out in Detroit that's doing outstanding and I smile every time I see his statuses on Facebook because he loves what he does). Kevin's argument smacks of telling someone who was taken advantage of that being taken advantage of is part of the business because it's always been part of the business, and therefore you should just keep your mouth shut. It's a variation of the argument for hazing. And that argument ranks somewhere between depressing and infuriating because it does two things: it keeps out those who may be awesome at this field, but refuse to do so because they won't play that game; and it forces those who do go into the field and get hurt to metaphorically "walk it off" rather than *do* something about it. It's what keeps hazing alive. It's what allows people who are predators to remain so. It's what gets people abused and hurt in ways they'll never tell anyone. It's so spectacularly unhealthy that anyone outside that world takes one look and goes (as PGage noted) you are batshit insane for wanting to be in that field. (Aside: I didn't realize "being willing to roll over and do whatever someone else wants you to do" is considered a "personality trait". I wonder if Myers-Briggs tests for that.) One more thing: it's worth noting that everyone on this thread (so far) is a white male. This is a group that, to borrow John Scalzi's reference, plays life on a very low level of difficulty. This is not to imply that we're all a bunch of insensitive assholes: far from it. I take from it the realization that there are people in my field who don't have it nearly as easy (and, from a personal perspective, that not everyone has the level of self-confidence to push back against assholes being assholes). I regret to this day an incident from the start of my advertising career where I saw someone brutally bully another employee and I did not report it. As I type this, my mind thinks back to an big, old, white executive yelling down the hall at the brand-new, slightly-nieve* 24-year-old female assistant about getting conference rooms mixed up in a manner that was quite unprofessional, and that Monday I need to pull her aside and see if she's okay. (* She asked me why I didn't have a lot of photos and other knick-knacks at my desk like she did. "When you've been laid off four times," I replied "you learn to only bring the stuff you can quickly pack into a copy paper box." She looked at me and waited for an indication that I was joking. None was coming.) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
