Is My Nose Really That Big?

I've worked with the media for the bulk of my career. And believe it or not, I actually remember my first encounter with a journalist. Back in 1977, my sixth grade class wrote down the name of a famous person we most wanted to be like and their attribute we most admired that we hoped to make a part of our future careers. For example, I remember my friend Diane admired Carol Burnett and wanted to make people laugh one day. I wanted to be like Thomas Jefferson (come on, I had just spent 3 years with bicentennial fever...)

As we locked these dreams in the school's vault - to be opened upon our graduation from high school (something that never happened) - a reporter from the Midvale Sentinel was on hand to interview us.

When the paper came out,I remember how excited my yia yia, aunts and my parents were to see my name and quote in print. I was horrified. I'd assumed that the reporter would, well, make my quote a bit more inspiring, something akin to:

"I wish to emulate Thomas Jefferson - America's third president, author of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the University of Virginia, visionary purchaser of the Louisiana Territory, and inventor of the dumbwaiter! In my humble career I shall strive to work meekly for equality and justice for all people, and in all my deeds."

Instead it read something like: "Um, I wanna be like Thomas Jefferson, and stick my neck out for people and stuff."

Who would have ever guessed that a quaint human interest story would have such an impact on my professional life 35-year years later? Because if nothing else, I learn from past experiences. So now I work hard to make sure that I'm not the one being interviewed!

But if I have to speak with a reporter, I try to be meticulous, thinking carefully about each word and every phrase. I often analyze the printed or audio result over and over. Sure, part of it is my OCD. But part of it is an attempt not to sound like a 12-year old again.

Well, yesterday it was discovered that someone stole a bronze statue from in front of the autism center that is part of my company. Its likely destination? A salvage yard to be melted as scrap.

With our CEO on a plane, and the center's director out ill, when the television cameras showed up, it was I who stepped in front of their mics. Perhaps the worst part - yesterday I decided it'd be riotously fun to wear a bow tie!

Tonight I showed the boys one of the stories. Gus was completely unfazed by seeing me on TV, jaded no doubt by his own experience a couple of years back being interviewed by Utah mainstay Rod Decker about a proposed loosening of car seat laws.

Niko, however, grinned from ear-to-ear and excitedly asked me what I was doing on TV! In disbelief, he asked to watch it again.

I focused on one thought: is my nose really that big?