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After covering a fire in Bridgeport on Christmas Day, I spent the day after Christmas covering a shooting in West Englewood. Newscasts are on 365 days a year. There are few people who can count on having every holiday off. Over the years, I’ve worked more holidays than I’ve had off. And people who are serious about covering the news would want to be at work if a major story broke.

I am guilty of griping over weather conditions and locations. But I would never complain about working. It’s irksome to hear expressions of sympathy while working during the holiday season. Few people need reminders about the dismal job market and the millions who are unemployed or underemployed. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. My Facebook connection Jeff Leoni was spot on in commenting on my page, “The only thing to do is think of our troops over in Afghanistan and what conditions they deal with every day. Then maybe a couple of hours in West Englewood in the cold doesn’t seem so bad.”

IMG_7855My kids are older now and no longer leave cookies or stir too early in the morning to see what “Santa” brought. Working the early shift allowed me to be home just as they were ready to open presents on Christmas Day around the “One Direction” tree my teenage daughter decorated while I was away in Mexico (long story). Then my family had a nice outing to see the debut of “Les Miserables” (loved it). I am thankful my husband and children understand the demands of the news business. It can be quite hard on marriages and families.

I’ll be away from work and off the air next week. Unless there’s major breaking news in Chicago.

 

(NOTE: A big bummer of moving “Big Tiny World” onto this new platform is the loss of most of my blogs from the past two years. I’ve migrated a few posts. But the majority are goners. My earliest posts are still alive at www.nancyloo.net.)