This is the kind thing that happens at work. We're sitting there quietly, keyboards clicking, papers rustling. Then someone says, "What exactly is 'Sexual Intercourse?'" Snide comments ensue about the educational abilities of said reporter's parents. A lengthy discussion begins that involves all the ins and outs (I couldn't resist . . .) of legal definitions and personal opinions.
As an education reporter it is rare that I have to deal with these kinds of questions. A couple of towns away a teacher got caught in a "relationship" with a fifteen-year-old. Some reporters would salivate to have that kind of story. A couple of jealous LJs in our office certainly had to wipe the drool from their mouths. But me? I'm not a fan of that kind of story.
It's been a week filled with sex offenders. The most dramatic case had the whole metro area talking. About a month ago a man walked by an apartment at about 3:30 in the morning. He saw a little girl sleeping on the couch, opened the door and kidnapped her. He took her to the roof of the apartment and proceeded to molest her. Here's an interesting detail: an illegal immigrant called 911 at about 4:00 in the morning. He risked being deported to do the right thing. He even testified in court. The police showed up. They thought they were being called to a man on the roof, not a kidnapping/molestation of a eight year old.
The officer - with his civilian ride-along in tow - climbed the stairs. The little girl screamed. The kidnapper put his hands up. The girl ran off and disappeared. The kidnapper pushed the officer down and plowed down the stairs. The civilian ride-along tackled the guy. The little girl ran home and awakened her mother. She said she thought the girl just had a bad dream. Then the police showed up. In court, the astounding testimony of an eight-year-old girl will put away a dangerous criminal. He choked her into submission. She still fought against him and refused to put herself in a position where she could be raped. She admitted to liking the part where the police tasered the guy.
I hate these kinds of cases. In the coming weeks I'll interview a elementary principal of a severely underfunded school who spends the summer visiting the homes of every pre-kindergartner in her school. I'll go to babysitting school. I may even visit Chinese Camp. Those other reporters can have their sex-offender/kidnapping/murder/mayhem/chaos stories.
I'll take my lowly education beat, thank you.
TARB
Lesser Journalists are a hard-working bunch, but we don't have the perks that some other journalists have. The "E" sticks on our keyboards; when we walk into a room of complete strangers, everyone knows our names because they see our faces in the paper when it comes out every week; "middle class" is relative. The community loves us, the community hates us. We love our jobs. We hate out jobs. We love our jobs, again.
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