A fellow reporter was out on assignment yesterday.
I took a call for her. The caller only wanted to leave her comments, not her name.
Okay, I took the comments:
The caller thought the reporter’s column should have been clearly labeled that it was her opinion. (I pointed out it was on the editorial page which clearly says Viewpoint at the top … but she called me argumentative. I shut up, asked for any other points she had to make and took notes.)
She did not like it that subject of the column, Gov. Mike Huckabee, had not been identified as a Baptist Minister. (I read it closely later and he is referred to as a Southern Baptist Minister and clearly connected with the Baptist and their college.)
I asked is she had any other comments.
No, that was all she had to say about the column.
Then she added that she really does not like any of the local writers’ columns. She wishes we would get some national columnists. The local writers do not do enough research. (We do have Tucker, Riley, Mitch and “First Amendment.” but it has been a long standing tradition at this newspaper, in fact the Wehco newspapers, to use staff to write columns.) She said “they all are awful. … and that Joan Hershberger is the worst.”
I was so stunned that I do not remember anything else. I think I thanked her for her opinion and told her good-bye.
I doubt that she remembered that I began our conversation saying, “this is Joan.”
Nice reality check, not everyone likes what I write. And it is all so innocuous. Can’t please some of the people any of the time. It would have been interesting to know what she did not like, but then again perhaps not …. she did not seem like a very happy person or one who looked closely before complaining.
At any rate, I know she is my number one Non-fan.
And I close with an old song that used to be on one of the records we had at home: “hurrah for the worst from the bottom up she’s first, she’s not just someone in the pack. She never found the knack of coming out on top… she’s worst!”