I have watched plenty of doctor and cop shows on TV in my life. (I’m a couch potato at heart.) I have learned through the years that people in those professions are basically on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What I never knew was that this is the same mentality that a newsman has. Or maybe more to the point, my newsman, otherwise known as my husband, Bobby, has. He ended up at a meth lab bust Friday night.
I can’t tell you how many times we have had to postpone our plans because of a breaking story. It is almost a joke with us that when we make plans to do something “after” work, all heck will break out right beforehand. A case in point was the phone call Bobby received on our anniversary. Just as we are about to leave for our trip to the Amish Heartland, he found out that the time capsule was discovered in the Wayne County, Ohio Courthouse. I could tell he really wanted to be there to document it. However, this was one time that he let it go. Well, after he had made calls to make sure someone from the newspaper would be there, I mean. It did work out in the end. They actually had to go through quite a process to open it, so Bobby had the opportunity to be there for that event.
Other times we have been out and something catches his attention and before I know it, he is making a call to someone to find out what is going on. One time, when the weather looked ominous, he called a captain with the sheriff’s department. He wanted to know if the weather had caused any damage. It hadn’t, but at that exact time there was an alleged hostage situation with a gunman unfolding. Bobby took me home and then headed out to cover the event and shoot video.
So, I am basically used to this happening. On Friday, March 18, 2016, what seemed to be starting as a quiet evening at home, changed dramatically when Bobby noticed 3 deputy vehicles heading out of town. (We were coming home from a quick shopping trip to Discount Drug Mart.) Bobby made a call to his captain friend, but had to leave a message. That didn’t deter him. He hung up and immediately called the sheriff directly. He got the lowdown for what was occurring and the wheels in his head started turning. He dropped me and Owney off at home, grabbed a couple of slices of cheese we had just bought and headed out the door.
The difference between doctors and cops and reporters, from what I can tell, is that when the doctor or cop is done, they just go home. When my newsman is finished at a scene, he can come home, but there is still work to be done.
On Friday, Bobby came home, wrote the story and created a YouTube video of what called him out. He’ll probably get lots of views and the subscribers to the newspaper will have the story “hot off the presses.” I doubt anyone would have known about this story if we hadn’t been out…and if Bobby’s news antennae weren’t always on.
