What really matters, Kosmo & home again
A reporter for The New York Timescame in our office late Friday afternoon. Late Friday is a very busy time at the Clarendon Citizenas we’re working intensely to complete ads to get proofs to our customers.
This past Friday was particularly intense, as we knew we had little time to devote to catching up over the weekend. The Citizenwould be moving home to our office at 8 North Brooks Street over the weekend. Managing Editor Cathy Gilbert is out of action with a second round of infection in her foot intensified by her battle with diabetes. Marketing Director Joanne Taylor would be taking her daughter to Charleston on Saturday to board a flight to Houston for a summer visit with her father. No rest for the weary.
The last thing we needed was the distraction of a reporter trying to find the dirt in Clarendon County.
We treated the young man like we were raised by our momma’s to do – with Southern hospitality. He sat down and started talking to our graphic designer Carl Jackson Jr., even though we politely explained that we were on deadline and our time was precious. Anyone in the newspaper business should have respected the “I’m on deadline” statement. But this big city reporter was on a selfish mission of his own.
The young man explained that he was based in Atlanta and had flown into South Carolina from New Orleans. I suspect that he may have been in Louisiana trying to uncover dirt about the oil spill.
The young reporter was in Manning to dig up dirt on our, before this week, unknown Alvin Greene. He tried several times to get Carl to say that it was a Republican conspiracy. I finally had to ask him to leave so we could get back to work.
Manning City Administrator Rebecca Rhodes was in my office while the reporter was working Carl. We were talking about the Paxville water project. We had been talking about our own Princess Mary Catherine Gilbert’s hospital stay.
Rebecca pointed out that here was this guy trying to dig up dirt about some guy who doesn’t really matter when we have real problems they could be helping us with.
We’re talking about a community who is struggling to get most of our people decent water, and a community who many live in poverty and who are fighting to take care of children who do not have enough to eat. Instead, the nation is focused on some unknown guy who is running for the U.S. Senate in a race he will not win.
Curiousity got the best of me and I read the piece on The New York Timeswebsite. We didn’t come off as badly as I imagined we would. I just wish that the big city media would consider helping us tackle some of our challenges instead of pouncing on an opportunity to sensationalize us.
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Regular readers of the Clarendon Citizenwill notice that the bylines on most of the stories are different this week. CitizenManaging Editor and Clarendon Princess Cathy is a temporary resident at the Clarendon Memorial Resort and Spa battling the infection in her foot.
Longtime friend and colleague Konstantine Vengerowsky has stepped up to fill in. Kosmo (as we have nicknamed him) began working with us as a junior in high school. He is a recent graduate of the College of Charleston and is headed to grad school at American University in Washington, D.C. He plans to become a foreign correspondent.
The Princess underwent surgery Monday to help deal with the infection. Our family asks that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
When you face life and death issues like this, some unknown guy winning a primary election just doesn’t seem that important.
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I mentioned earlier in this column that the Citizenfamily moved over the weekend. We moved from our temporary home on Boyce Street to our home at 8 North Brooks Street. Our Citizenfamily is very glad to be back in our work home. We all just wish that all our family were here with us.
We were able to have our temporary home because of the generosity of Merle Norman Owner Jennie Lee. Jennie will be renovating the building at 17 West Boyce Street and will move her Merle Norman store when the renovations are complete.
We can’t thank Jennie enough for the use of her future home for our temporary home.
