I was having a bite to eat at my local take-away earlier tonight when I overheard two guys talking at the table next to me and was reminded of a comment Damo made a few years ago. “That’s not a story”, he told me (chastised?), recognising the hungry look of a journalist who sensed a Walkey Award in the story of a group of friends.
Tonight at the take-away I overheard these two blokes talking about some minor corruption in the industry they work in. “So I wrote to the such and such of the such and such and you know what their response was?”, I heard one say to the other. For just a moment, I listened more closely to the conversation. And that’s when I realised what I was doing. I was blurring the lines between my personal and professional life yet again.
I recognise I work in a really interesting industry. And I’m doing it because I’m passionate, and have a natural curiosity and interest in the world that’s fulfilled. And I also think I’m pretty good at what I do. But I tell ya, there’s some sharks out there.
A couple of years ago a family member was involved in an incident which had the potential to attract a lot of media attention, her lawyers suggested. “But I don’t want to talk to the media”, she told me. I replied, “Well, you don’t have to. It’s not of their business. And the kind of people who want to talk to you will only be interested for a day or so”, I warned here. “If they become a problem, pass it on to me and I’ll look after things”, I added. “But remember”, I told her, “you don’t have to speak to the media. It’s not of their business”.
And so when I heard these two blokes talking tonight, I thought of what Damo said, and I thought of what I told my family member. “It’s none of my business and probably not a story”, I thought to myself.
Aside from that, it’s been a reasonably quiet day.
