It's Like Having a Whole Other Family

Having been in the newsroom biz since I was 24, I'm not sure what the dynamic between co-workers in other offices and places of businesses are like. But I can tell you that the camaraderie between those in a newsroom can be pretty tight.

Our jobs are stressful ... we're always on deadline for something, there always seems to be too much to cover and not enough of us to do it, etc., etc., etc. We work funky hours, and many weeks we look back to discover that we've spent more time with one another than we have with our families.

We know about each other's spouses, children and grandchildren. I can tell you all of my reporters' birthdays.

With the good that comes from being that familiar, however, comes bad. You get very attached, and when something bad happens, it's almost like it happens to all of us.

And boy, do we worry about each other.

I missed a call from one of my reporters at 11:22 a.m. Thursday. I tried to call back, but it went straight to her voicemail.

I found it odd, but didn't think too much of it. This reporter normally works evenings, so it wasn't like she was missing her shift. I figured she'd call me back later.

Fast forward to 5:30 p.m. My assistant telephoned me at home to let me know that not only had my reporter not shown up for her shift, but that her parents, with whom she lives, hadn't heard from her in over 24 hours and were beginning to panic. My reporter's mother was going through an old cell phone bill, calling everyone my reporter had called from her phone in the last month.

My assistant sounded very rattled, and my heart fell into my shoes. I don't know if it's because I work in the news or because I watch too many Lifetime movies, but a lot of very ugly scenarios started running through my head.

I told my assistant to let me know if the reporter called in, and that I'd call him if she contacted me.

Not 20 minutes later, my reporter's name popped up on my caller ID. Relief flooded over me as a answered.

"Where are you?!?" I shouted, not even bothering with a "hello."

Turns out my reporter was stuck at a friend's place in Terre Haute. She'd gone there to stay overnight on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning the friend had gone to work with my reporter's keys and cell phone charger in their car. So my reporter was stuck with no keys to her car and a dead cell phone. By chance, she had found a phone charger at her friend's place that worked on her phone, and as soon as she did she called me.

"I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere!" I said, marveling at how much I sounded like my mother.

I told my reporter that she needed to call her mother first, then call her co-workers, who were all in a panic.

It occurred to me then how close we can get to those we work with. Until I knew my reporter was not in any peril, she was all I could think about.

Even if it's a pain sometimes, I guess I still really think it's a blessing that we have so many people in our lives ... family and not ... to care about.