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I am officially back at the newspaper in my old position, writing obituaries, births, deaths, weddings, etc., and I couldn't be happier. It's amazing how fast you come to appreciate a cushy desk job after you've worked your butt off for a year in culinary school.
There's been one change during my three-year semi-leave from the newspaper that I'm happy to report, and that is that, for the first time, our paper has begun including same-sex partners as such as survivors in obituaries. Yeah, yeah, we're kinda behind the times on that, but it's a newspaper firmly in the Bible Belt.
Unfortunately, that does mean whenever we publish one of these, we get a mini-flurry of complaints about it.
Fortunately, now, they're complaining to me. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm a little bit of a fangirl with some...particular interests...so I'm in a unique position to fire back at them.
Me: "Newsroom."
Angry Woman: "I need to talk to someone about that disgusting thing in the paper today!"
Me: "Which disgusting thing would that be, ma'am?"
AW: "The *Smith* obituary!" (Not the real name.)
Me: "What about it, ma'am?"
AW: "She had another woman listed as her partner, and they had a child with their last names, and-" *rant rant rant homophobia rant rant went to hell horrible bullshit rabble* "-and I think I may just cancel my subscription to your paper if you keep running such nasty things! What do you say to that?"
Me: "I say you're complaining to the wrong person, seeing as I have at least a dozen photoshops on my computer of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. mid-coitus."
AW: *GAAAAAAAAAASP, stammer stammer* "-LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR BOSS!"
Me: *shrugs, transfers*
I don't know what she said to him, just that five minutes later, he was coming to my desk.
Boss: "You meant your personal computer, right?"
Me: "Yeeup."
Boss: *nods once, gives me one last odd look, then returns to his office and goes back to singing Beatles songs at the top of his lungs*
Yeah, I don't know if she cancelled or not, but at least I left an image in her head for the rest of the day.
There's been one change during my three-year semi-leave from the newspaper that I'm happy to report, and that is that, for the first time, our paper has begun including same-sex partners as such as survivors in obituaries. Yeah, yeah, we're kinda behind the times on that, but it's a newspaper firmly in the Bible Belt.
Unfortunately, that does mean whenever we publish one of these, we get a mini-flurry of complaints about it.
Fortunately, now, they're complaining to me. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm a little bit of a fangirl with some...particular interests...so I'm in a unique position to fire back at them.
Me: "Newsroom."
Angry Woman: "I need to talk to someone about that disgusting thing in the paper today!"
Me: "Which disgusting thing would that be, ma'am?"
AW: "The *Smith* obituary!" (Not the real name.)
Me: "What about it, ma'am?"
AW: "She had another woman listed as her partner, and they had a child with their last names, and-" *rant rant rant homophobia rant rant went to hell horrible bullshit rabble* "-and I think I may just cancel my subscription to your paper if you keep running such nasty things! What do you say to that?"
Me: "I say you're complaining to the wrong person, seeing as I have at least a dozen photoshops on my computer of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. mid-coitus."
AW: *GAAAAAAAAAASP, stammer stammer* "-LET ME SPEAK TO YOUR BOSS!"
Me: *shrugs, transfers*
I don't know what she said to him, just that five minutes later, he was coming to my desk.
Boss: "You meant your personal computer, right?"
Me: "Yeeup."
Boss: *nods once, gives me one last odd look, then returns to his office and goes back to singing Beatles songs at the top of his lungs*
Yeah, I don't know if she cancelled or not, but at least I left an image in her head for the rest of the day.
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