Artist or Ambulance Chaser?

I admit it. Sometimes artists are tempted and succumb to exploring avenues that are more mundane pursuits - such as paying the mortgage and eating. I’ve been a full-time artist (painting/illustration/video/writer) since 1988 and I know.

Now living the artist’s life sounds incredible and most of the time it is but there are silly little occasions in life when one wakes up and wonders, “What would life be like with a regular, periodic paycheck? And imagine, if God forbid one got laid off, an unemployment check would be waiting!”

One day, as I watched the economic corpse baste in the sun of gloom and doom status, I decided to think of a job which I might do full time (on the side, lol). I carefully pondered my skills, and got a resume together that would sound properly impressive with a range of skills but not so broad as to appear scary and unfocused. (Certainly not an easy task for the creative brain).

I decided my plan would be to be a reporter at the nearby local newspaper across the state line. I sent in my resume, writing clips and waited for the phone to ring.

To my surprise . . . it did! I had an interview the following Tuesday.

I sailed through the interview like a child’s toy boat on the lake on a windy day. Then the editor told me there would be one little “test” before the spelling test. (Guess they didn’t know about “spell-check”).

I thought back to my days as a college student taking career tests more than three decades before. It was pretty darned simple to cater your answers to what you knew the questions were driving at. For example, if you wanted to be a nurse, you simply answered favorably to all the questions about caring for and enjoying people. Too easy!

It was the same here. I was flying along. He would ask a questions such as, “Which story would take precedence . . .” and carefully give two examples.

But then we came to the question that, to this day, makes me laugh at the thought.

He set up the scenario:

“You are off work and traveling down the interstate and you see flashing lights ahead. Ambulances whiz by your car. What do you do?”

My creative mind went wild. Was he serious? People were hurting. Life was in danger. Someone’s mother, daughter, father, or brother might be laying on the pavement sucking in the final connective breath between this life and beyond. Let those life saving rescuers take charge and try to help.

I noticed I had paused too long.

Sarcastically, I quickly blurted out, “Well you’d chase it, of course!”. Like I said - I knew the right answers for the right questions. (I didn’t say I believed them).

The editor had a proud look on his face like a father watching his son bat the final ball out of the park at an important game.

I on the other hand, knew that I could not work for the newspaper, under any circumstances. “Starving artist” had a nicer ring to it than “ambulance chaser”.

So I sit here tonight in front of my computer talking with you. I’m still an artist/writer/videographer/illustrator and the nightly news just reported that our economy was still in a dire state. Yet I am fortunate. I have jobs in house. I’m illustrating a children’s book currently. Life is just fine.

Even funny.

Tonight, Charles Gibson (someone who does balance his report with something GOOD each night) reported on the TV news that another newspaper was failing. Don’t get me wrong - I love the feel of opening a newspaper (rather than reading it on-line). There’s just something about the smell of ink, the texture and feel of the paper and the satisfaction of creating a pile of already read information in front of you that the internet can not come close to matching. But I can’t help but think that newspapers have to change as the times do.

It’s not that us “Boomers” and others don’t like the printed page. It’s just that - do we really need to hear about another death, another accident, or where the next ambulance is going?

They often say that people just won’t read the “soft news stories” - those minor little details like a new ocean fish being discovered that could crunch a Hummer in it’s jaws or a new medical discovery that will make being in a wheelchair less an option.

Well I think “they” are wrong. But what do I know? I don’t get a regular paycheck . . .

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(O.K. Just had a thought. Before the rainstorm of journalists' ire hail down upon me - I better mention that I do believe there are some terrific newspaper journalists out there. The paper I'm speaking of simply didn't, in my opinion, share the "cream of the crop." I'm not against reporting negative news - but my thought is that we could balance it with 50% negative and 50% positive.). After all - there are some great things happening on the planet!