Misery Day 1

OK - I know I am not supposed to talk about work on my blahG. I know it could get me fired. But I just have to say that today was my first day at work on a new job. I can't or won't say EXACTLY where it is that I work, but I will tell you that it involves doing something very nice for people very much in need. Sounds like I am a real do gooder, huh? Well, it also involves ratings and sponsors and the whims of network executives. So as much of a benevolent saint as I'd like to think I am, in reality, I am simply a cog in a very big wheel with very little say. But I digress.

So today was day one of sifting through letter after letter of bleeding hearts with what they think are the worst troubles in the world. Admittedly I was a bit concerned that I was going to crumble on this gig. After all, I cry at Hallmark commercials and holiday episodes of The OC. OK, I cry at EVERY episode of The OC. So how on earth was I going to be able to sit and sift through hundreds of letters detailing real peoples' real plights? Well, I am happy to say (or maybe not so happy to say) that it was a piece of cake. It turns out I am far more calloused and cynical than I ever thought. I read over a hundred letters today written by all sorts of very honest very needy people. Of the hundred plus letters I read, I promptly "filed" about 95 of them in file 13! That's right, I tossed them in the trash. And there was no second thought, or guilt or even a moment of "oh, man, maybe if I try I can persuade the powers that be to help these poor folks." Nope. Just tossed them in the very same plastic trash bin as I tossed my snotty Kleenex. In fact, there were just about as many snotty Kleenex as rejected letters. Not because I was all teary eyed over their sob stories, just because of my cold. Cold. Perhaps it's not just in my head, perhaps it has taken my heart as well.

Let's see if day 2 makes me any more or less human.