Paper Trails

The morning newspaper is not what it once was.

I am so old that I actually remember when you had to read the paper to find out what was going on the world.

If you wanted to see a movie, that’s where you got the show times.

If you were looking for a sports score, go to section C.

If you wanted to give your opinion, write a letter to the editor.

Was there really life before blogs?

I’ve always enjoyed the feel of the newspaper and the ink that it leaves on your hands.

I still try to read a hard copy of the local paper every day, in addition to a bunch more online, but there is one paper I won’t miss.

The Sunday Paper.

The great Joe Jackson sang all about it on his debut album in 1979:

  

  Brothers heading that way now I guess

  He just read something made his face turn blue

  Well I got nothing against the press

  They wouldn’t print it if it wasn’t true

  If you want to know about the gay politician

  If you want to know how to drive your car

  If you want to know about the new sex position

  You can read it in the Sunday Papers

Yep, it’s all there.

Well last Sunday, like every Sunday, I walked out to the front of the house early in the morning, bent my knees and lifted up the 45-pound package.

Maybe not 45, but it always feels like it.

I took it inside, removed the plastic wrap and separated the junk from the good stuff.

Recipes.   Good stuff.

Department Store ads.   Junk.

Sports.  Good stuff.

Real Estate.   Junk.

Entertainment.  Good stuff.

At the end of the process, I’ve got two stacks, one to be recycled and one to be read.

This past weekend there was a section that immediately grabbed my attention.

Actually it grabbed me by the throat.

It was the business section and on the cover, taking up more than half of the page was a picture of the President/CEO of the company that let me go.

And ruined my life.

What I should’ve done was throw it in the trash.   Like they did to me.

What I did was read every word.

Words like million -- the $12.2 million he made the year that I got fired.

Words like happy and challenged -- two things he feels in his job every day and two things I haven’t felt since they let me go.

Words like employee-friendly programs -- referring to the fitness classes he has added to keep the staff stress free.   

I remember the hamster wheel they had me running on, but no yoga or pilates.

I have really tried very hard to fight every bitter feeling that comes my way these days and for the most part it has worked.

I don’t spend a lot of my time being miserable, but I am definitely noticing it happening on a more frequent basis.

There are things that NEEDED to be done last Sunday, like laundry, grocery shopping and eating lunch.

I definitely didn’t NEED to read a huge article on how the President of the company that destroyed my career is happy and challenged.

Maybe I should have just stuck with the department store ads.