People in Authority Who Abuse It Because They Can

OK, I only have a few minutes. Her Majesty, my 2.5 year old, needs me. I started today at 2:30am (I'm a blogger by early morning hours and, perish the thought, a PR flak by day...how do you spell 'sleep deprivation...). But all I wanted today was to have some person on the west coast approve a news release and insert a quote. You'd think I asked her to have my children. This is one of those cases where a third party company is asked to approve the release from my client. What's the big whoop? It's a stupid news release, dude. No one is going to read it anyway.

I used to see this when I was a reporter. I started off in my 'journalism' career on the accident/police beat. My job called for me to phone the hospital to check with the head nurse on the condition of so and so who drove drunk into a bridge abutment. Dead or alive is basically all I needed to know. Would they tell me? Nope. Why-- because they could. There's no earthly reason not to tell some reporter the condition of an accident victim unless a family member isn't going to hear the news until well after tomorrow's editon in which case, the hospital has bigger problems. But I digress. I hate hospitals, by the way... but that's a post for another day. They smell. They dry out your skin. They have too many neon lights. Doctors are smarmy. Their hands are too small. They all talk like they're bored to tears. I always want to ask a doctor who his or her doctor is. I know years ago they were the ones that loved making me feel stupid in math class... ok, I'll stop that aspect of this story now.

Anyway, I got into the habit of telling the source (some head nurse) that I would quote them as saying the victim died, and I'd use their name. But PR people don't have that kind of leverage. Basically, we just bend over. BOHICA, as they say. If you don't know what that means, you don't want to know.

Thank God it's Friday. Meanwhile, how about that Amy who wants to drive over little old men in walkers in the road. Hey Aim-- want to get there ahead of the little old man... leave sooner! Ha ha.