Characters

It had been a long, hard day in the newsroom. A tidal wave of staff changes, a major shift in job responsibilities, and back-to-back training sessions on new production software and procedures had left everyone pretty much catatonic. Productivity was not at an all-time high. Clear thinking wasn't either. Cue the creative release, and the moderately-funny-but-thoroughly-therapeutic contest above. The characters in the video are two of my nearby cube-dwellers and coworkers. They, like the others in this pressure cooker, continue to push on even as the earth shakes under our feet and chaos spins us in circles. These solitary survivors, united by a common goal, keep moving ahead — morphing, adapting, sweating, laughing, writing, re-adapting, and hoping for the best. This motley crew of nearly-insane but highly capable individuals has earned my respect. I know what it costs to get the job done. To Dave, Dan, Barb, Melissa, Scott, Rachel, Nora, Steve, Allison, Lind

It's nothing special. It's exactly like hundreds of others all over town, gathering dust in garages, storage sheds, basements and attics. In fact, it's just like the one that's been rusting away in your neighbor's side yard for the last year and a half — nothing more than an ordinary, unimpressive little toy. But for this newsroom staff, that simple toy has risen above its humble station in life to become a friend, a playmate, a confidant, a glorious distraction from deadlines, rewrites, edits, and evolving strategies. Its name is "scooter." Abandoned long ago (one hopes) by a now-grown neighborhood kid, it has been tucked away in dark corner of the newsroom. That is, until one day a few months back, when in a totally unexpected flash of genius, our multimedia director brought it out into the light and climbed aboard. Amid the din of clicking computer keys, ringing phones, chattering voices and pounding presses, he sailed up and down cu

Left to right (obviously) Rachel, Steve, Scott, Bethany, Dan, Barb, and Ryan, courtesy of my cell phone. Apologies to the others who were there. You'd thank me if you could see the rest of the photos. Once in a great while you run across someone who dares to set aside to-do lists, deadlines and responsibilities and exceeds their literal job description. Against the loud hum of "important activity," they still hear the faint sound of their own beating heart and remember who they really are and what they were created to do. Recently my newsroom coworkers and I were the grateful beneficiaries of an unexpected gesture by one such person. It was a piping hot lunch — for a crowd — delivered in the middle of a crusher day. No reason. No explanation. Just because. My colleagues blinked in disbelief at first, and then swarmed like they had just won the lottery. They had. This lunch — it wasn't a transaction between entities, it was a connection among people