January 2007
So I’m in the living room the other day taking my usual break. I begin writing at 6:30 a.m. when everyone in the house leaves. So by 9, I’m ready for a little light entertainment to free my mind from the deep thinking that writing takes - and Regis & Kelly’s 15-minute morning chat provides just enough to distract those heavy thoughts, laugh a little, eat breakfast, then get back to work.
But this day, when I turn on the TV for my much anticipated break, the news is on. I look at the clock thinking, oh, I must be early. It reads: 9:03 a.m..
That’s odd, I think. This must be...
important … hey, maybe they finally found Bin Laden!
I tune in. The newscaster is interrupting my regularly scheduled program for some Breaking News. The weatherman now comes on with his charts and graphs to inform us—we northeast Ohio folks—that it is snowing and that we’d better “be careful out there.”
Snowing. In Cleveland. In January. Be Careful Out There ... That’s the Breaking News? Are you kidding me? Isn’t that what’s it’s supposed to do this time of year?
It was news when it wasn’t snowing here a few weeks ago - now it’s Breaking News that it is.
9:08 a.m. - I’m really getting anxious now. I’m missing the best part of Regis & Kelly because the news people are showing me what snow looks like out there on the highway. Cars are moving slowly. Downtown workers with snow flakes on their heads.
Yep, it’s winter alright. How about that. Right on time. Go figure…
But this is no where near what we endured during the Blizzard of ’78. So come on now, media man, give me back my Reege…
Yeah, ok, ok, I got it. Be careful, drive safe, bla bla bla…. I say out loud to the TV guy. Now can I just get my program back?
Nope. Here comes more Breaking News. “We are tracking snow right this minute,” TV guys says in dramatic tones. “and you can expect the flurries to continue…”
Ya think?
“HEY PEOPLE? YOO, HOO? IT’S JANUARY!! IT’S CLEVELAND!! THIS IS NOT BREAKING NEWS!!
JUST LET ME KNOW WHEN SOMEONE FINDS BIN LADEN, OKAY?...