Wow, is this guy reaching rock bottom and beginning to dig.
And you know, I don’t know what happens to people, that they assume after a while that you should just have to bow down and kiss their rings, but it’s particularly disturbing in journalism, the practice of which is aided immensely by the attitude that nobody deserves to have their ring kissed, and where nobody should be if what they’re interested in is ring-kissing.
So then there’s this asshole, ripping on journalism interns, kids, for being … young. How dare they. Good Lord, they’re working for free, probably, or more properly for what USA Today promises will be the “prestige” of being allowed inside that paper’s hallowed halls, allowed to mingle with Wilson and the like. Working for free, or definitely for not a lot of money, doing dirt jobs the regular reporters don’t want to do, and now along comes this dick, making fun of them for not knowing who he was and expecting … what, from his readership? Validation? Are all presumptive readers of USA Today so bitter and old we’re supposed to nod and say yeah, boy, do I ever feel like a slowly decaying, insecure, threatened fuckpuppet who looks over his shoulder in resentment and fear at the very mention of a 20-year-old? Boy, do I ever know what that’s like, pal? And how dare they remind him of their youth! Don’t they know their job is to make him feel better about himself?
I’m sure this piece is meant to be tongue-in-cheek and cutesy, but I’m sorry, I don’t have a sense of humor about somebody in his position picking on the lowest rung of the newsroom ladder. It’s meant to be snarky and funny but I remember being those 20-year-olds, and dealing with somebody’s constant “teasing” and seething resentment is no fucking picnic, especially not when all you’re trying to do is your job. Don’t pick on the smaller kid, it’s not nice, damn it.
A.