The First Day of Work

This is ridiculous. Seriously, sit down, grab some popcorn and a pillow and enjoy this delightful story about my first day of work.

First things first--I was nervous, so nervous in fact, that even though I looked at the maps, checked Google Maps and all that jazz I still got slightly lost. I walked in the opposite direction of my office. I finally walked into a executive building, asked the security lady at the front desk if she had a phone book and told her it was my first day of work and I was nervous as hell. She smiled at me, said it was fine and told me that my office was two blocks down (not up) and wished me luck.

I get to work, and at the very first meeting me and the other intern had was with the online editors as well as the heads of the Web department. We were both asked what we enjoyed writing about. My fellow intern co-worker enjoys writing about fashion, I told the Online Editor that I was more interested in Politics but was still new at political writing. They told me I was in the right city.

Right away my boss comes up to me during computer training and says 'Shefali, take a look at this and let me know if you would like to cover it for our Capital Comment blog.' I read the email he handed to me and it was about a discussion on faith, values and politics with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards hosted by Sojourners Magazine (a faith-based magazine).

This is HUGE! The talk would be video taped live by CNN at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium. The discussion (not debate) was monitored by a panel of religious leaders who wanted to ask the democratic candidates questions about faith and religion.

First thought: You want ME to cover this?
First response: Yeah sure!

Over lunch my boss ran over what exactly this all entailed, (who to talk to, what to pay attention to etc...) He warned me that I needed to be firm and authoritative--"Don't cower or act shy. If they say you aren't on the list tell them they must have an old list and say that you are with us. We hold a lot of stock around here and they'll want you to cover this." This was my first time writing a blog--aside from this one. I got butterflies in my stomach thinking that I might meet Obama, Clinton and Edwards.

Like any other event I've covered I did all the prep work, research and all that jazz. I even charged the batteries to the digital camera I was going to bring. I sent Sojourner's my credentials and was ready to head out. I even left early so that I knew where to walk to in case I got lost. After scarfing down a bottle of water and a pretzel I walked right up to the 'Media Only' entrance. At the door I told the suited student (who was not much older than me) my name and who I worked for. He scans through the list and told me that I wasn't on the list. When he asked his boss, a short, blond-haired woman with narrow glasses, who looked overworked and stressed what to do, she asked me when did I send in my credentials. I told her I sent them this morning and she told me that the credentials for the press were closed yesterday. Ouch.

First thought: Shit, I'm screwed and on my first day too.
First response: "Well I have to cover this."

She rolled her eyes at me and I turned back outside to see a mob of people holding blown up poster-size photos of aborted babies, megaphones, fliers, banners and flags. This was huge, it was my first assignment. I can't just go home...

Remembering what my boss told me--I told the woman that the list must be wrong and that it would be a shame for my magazine (a well-known magazine in the D.C. area) not to have this story in its pages. She rolled her eyes again (God, I hated that) and told me that if i wanted to get in I would need to wait and see if any other press show up. That would be around 6pm. Checked my watch, I had enough time. Good.

I putzed around outside till about 12 min before 6pm when I saw another reporter taking photos of the mob outside. 'Good call," I thought and reached down for my camera. Suddenly I realized that I didn't take the batteries that were charging....they were still in the office.

First thought:FUCK! No batteries and I had about 8 minutes now to get into this place.
First response: No time to respond...AH! Making a mad dash down the street..."THINK! Is there a CVS, a pharmacy nearby...what do these big colleges have?"

I ran down the sidewalk about a block from the auditorium and asked a woman if she knows of a CVS nearby. Nope. "Think, think...stupid big schools...BOOKSTORE!" Turned to the map of the campus I saw next to me and saw that the bookstore was in the building I was standing right in front of. "Brilliant!"

Ran up the stairs of the sleek building, then down the stairs to the ground floor where I saw displays of various sweatshirts and t-shirts. Turned the corner in time to see a student--looking exhausted and beat--lock the door of the store.

First thought: NO! Goodbye Washington, this was fun.
First response: began praying in front of her, showing my boss's business card and pointing towards the auditorium and then to my battery-less camera.

She sighed, yelled at her own boss whether to let me in or not and got a "fuck, alright," in return. $6.49 later I was back at the front of the media entrance where the young man asked for my name and company. There were two other reporters standing next to me who had also missed out on the credential deadlines. We all chuckled at one another and could sense a small amount of embarrassment at not making this very important deadlines...we were reporters for crying-out-loud. The man next to me was an elderly but suave fellow and when he told his name to the young man at the desk he cleared his throat and said, "Michael Duffy, Time Magazine." I gasped a little because I had read his articles before. He gave me a strange look, grabbed his press pass and stepped inside.

Michael Duffy! HAH! He's human just like the rest of us. I felt like such a nerd at that moment. The young man handed me a press pass. I beamed and quietly told him that it was my first day at the job. "Holy crap, look at what you are covering" he said. I felt so cool right then and there.

I walked into the auditorium greeted with soundboards, massive CNN cameras, and a nearly-packed crowd of religious fanatics, politicos, and TV/Magazine/Newspaper reporters.
The press had reserved seating and we faced either the left or the right of the stage. A CNN camera was swooping above our heads and I so badly wanted to turn around and wave and scream "Hi mom..." but I'm an adult now and we don't do that do we....damn.

Took some photos, some really cool ones. Not sure yet if I can stick any of them up on this blog--I'll be sure to ask though. (for now i got this off of the Christian Post) Saw Barrack, Hillary and John...didn't meet them...it was only my first day. But DAMN, what a day.

I figure since I work in the online section of the magazine I should really get back into this blog. Keep an eye out for more updates--at least for this 'web' summer.