I shouldn't be surprised anymore when a wayward reporter contacts me about something I wrote on my blog. But it still stuns me upon reading an e-mail from a scribe who wants to know more about one of my blog entries.This time, the e-mail came from a Wall Street Journal reporter ... cue jaw drop.
The newspaper wants to report on the jobless who turned to the U.S. Census Bureau for a temporary paycheck. It appears the WSJ wants anecdotal stories as it reports on how those census jobs might be skewing unemployment figures. Apparently, this blog caught the reporter's attention.
We set up an interview for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday -- just as severe thunderstorms rolled through Western Pennsylvania -- and we spoke for about 40 minutes about my unemployment and subsequent federal job. The interview ranged from the day the Observer-Reporter let me go to what my job duties are as a quality control enumerator.
And it so felt good telling that story.
Whether any of it ends up in the newspaper, it still was worth the time. This is why I began blogging two days after receiving my pink slip. I want people to know what happens to the unemployed after their severance checks and compensation benefits run dry.
Hopefully, the stories of this blog's unwilling participants will reach a national audience.
That is just so cool, despite your employment status....
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how many census enumerators they interviewed, so it remains to be seen if I'm included in this story. Still, it was certainly an interesting experience to be on the other side of the questioning.
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