the woman at the duck tour booth + layoffs
BEST FLOWERS IN SF, THANK YOU PATRICIA —
in journalism, there’s an understanding that a touch of discomfort and an anxiety-inducing deadline isn’t (always) a bad thing. in fact, those two characteristics often make up the backbone of our favorite stories in the field.
this graph, by the wonderful erin griffith, sums up the writing process pretty perfectly.
this story, which fits somewhere along the first inflection, is no different. except along with the stress and an impending deadline was a third, perhaps perfect, characteristic: a woman at a duck tour booth.
more later, including how the anxiety of reporting taught me about the power of an unlikely source, but first my words + reads:
my words: i wrote about crowd-sourced spreadsheets rising as a solution to layoffs, which feel common in the belt-tightening around silicon valley.
etc: the fact that spreadsheets crop up so often, and go viral after a layoff gave me a snapshot on startupland culture. tech companies thrive on the belief that your network is everything, but, as layoffs continue to make headlines, the bigger question still exists: is a spreadsheet enough to help you land your next gig?
learning lesson: stories beget other stories. after i published my first story on the trend of spreadsheets as a solution to layoffs, i learned about another trend: stigma-fighting slack channels. i wrote a follow up, and interviewed some pretty special people.
unorganized tab time:
i need to flex, because i feel great
if you are an early stage startup founded by an underrepresented founder, click here
*blinks twice* the airbnb of storage?
anyways
the assignment at hand is a dream for a sophomore in college in a fundamentals of journalism class, taught by someone who deserves dozens of thank you’s in this blog, and whose lessons live between the lines of my proudest stories and turns of phrases.
i was assigned, by the inimitable mitchell zuckoff, to ask boston residents about how they feel about the legalization of weed. i had 24 hours, and he granted us us one tip from his own, decorated reporter’s notebook: get creative with who you interview.
i didn’t get why, but after finding little diversity in the student voices on commonwealth avenue, i ended up taking the T to the boston common, smack dab in the middle of the city. zuckoff’s words to get creative stuck in my head, and i slid up to next a girl journaling on a bench. she told me how weed deadens a lot of emotions, and of course, it made it in the story. i also found a photographer with a sense of humor and a professor and student duo that made me laugh.
but it was a woman i stumbled upon, a few minutes later, standing proudly at the duck tour booth that will make my homework assignment a memorable one. i met her, and she didn’t want a thing to do with me. in fact, she wouldn’t even give me her name. forget talking to a journalist, she wanted to do her job: get tourists to sign up for a duck boat tour (read more here, if you’re confused what those entail).
creativity in mind, i asked her about cannabis a few times, and she rejected a few times without an explanation. i needed a third source to round out the story, and she was my last attempt. once i made another round around the block and ended up at her booth once again, she explained herself: she’s never talked to the press before, and doesn’t get why she should. i put my notebook down, closed my eager tape recorder, and assured her that her thoughts count, and people probably would love to hear from someone who is a human, much more than hear from someone who is stuffy and packaged.
as to whether my pep talk worked?
the single mother, boston duck tour guide, former welfare researcher for the government, and one-time toilet cleaner, wants marijuana to be legalized. and her wishes, back then, became a reality within a week.
now, the reason i haven’t forgotten about linda isn’t just because her interview was fresh and real and raw. i haven’t forgotten her, or the assignment, because i learned that any story, on deadline or not, has room for a fresh and real and raw interview. we might just need to circle the blocks a few times and get creative, first.
the unlikely sources, the people who aren’t used to being interviewed? those people are the ones that make a touch of discomfort and an anxiety-inducing deadline all the more worth it.
to duck tours,
n
