Lucky Lost His Job Today

This morning I sent my dog Lucky out to get the paper and it wasn’t there. Lucky circled around the driveway blindly (literally, my dog really is blind) looking for the paper and I realized the day had come. No more newspaper.

I am a news junkie and have subscribed to one paper or another for almost 20 years. As a journalism student, I was taught the importance of the fourth estate and its relevance to keeping the world honest and safe, and once in the third grade my mug made the front page as I proudly marched in the West Bend annual Holiday parade. You couldn’t see much of me, as the 20 below wind chill dictated that all but my eyes were wrapped in layers of clothing, but there I was on the front page. Famous for a day. Nothing is more exciting to a ten year old.

There is little I love more than getting up at dawn, when things are still quiet around my house, settling into my red easy chair and perusing the daily news. It is my routine and my comfort. What will I do now? I tried settling in with my laptop and the online version of the local paper, but it wasn’t the same. It felt disjointed and incomplete. Lots of headlines, each trying to grab you, but no real substance. Maybe it’s me.

My business partner is avid about getting his news on line. He scoffs at my paper addiction and proclaims it to be “old news”. He’s right. In the race to be the most “up’ on news events, the web wins hands down. If a big event is happening, I am the first to turn to the Internet, and I daily review a variety of sources to enhance my perspective. I wonder though, how far past the headlines most people get? How many really read the in depth stories available? How many can discern the difference between citizen or opinion journalism and professional reporting?

I let my paper expire because it kept getting smaller and smaller, both in size and content. Some days, it would take me less than 10 minutes to get through, yet the price kept increasing. It became easier for me to confront my addiction, particularly in today’s economic times and say, “the value just isn’t there anymore”. I let it expire.

I will miss my newspaper. Lucky just lost his job, I have a laptop in my lap and am fighting an overwhelming urge to check my email.

One thing is for sure – people are creatures of habit that value and crave their comforts and routines. That includes the residents we serve. Be certain that they weigh similar decisions in regard to their living experiences every day, and if they determine “the value just isn’t there anymore”, when their lease expires, they will make a change, even if they don’t want to.