Topical Blog Post: Childless

Childless

“You don’t wanna have kids?! Do you wanna grow up alone? What if you’re old and you die, don’t you wanna have someone to take care of you?!” exclaimed my coworker Beatrice.

Oprah has not had a child. I do not think she is lonely or incomplete.

I never correlated not having kids with a life of loneliness and despair, and without marriage. Even when I pass, I still never figured my life would have been lonely or miserable because I did not have kids.

Obviously, I do not want to have kids in the future. It is not solely because I’m not good with kids. I just do not see my life as a parent. I do not think I have it in my heart and soul to be a mother a child. Children are a huge responsibility, and I do not think I am ready for that…ever.

My mother always told me, “You’ll grow out of it. You’re just really young right now to even think of having children.”

Maybe she’s right. Maybe I am just too young to even think about having children, and that is why I feel I will never want any. Maybe I will “come around”. However, I really do not think that is the case.

When I was younger, I never liked playing “the Mom,” who cooked, cleaned, and tended to her children all day. I know mothers today do not even do that now, but I still do not see my life as “the Mom”.

I know, especially right now, I am not mature enough to be a parent. I would not want to have children (or a child) unless I was ready. My own parents instilled a great sense of family in me, and I do not think that it is something I can give to my own offspring.

I commend all parents for being able to care for a child. I see parenting has the toughest job in the world. It is something so many people around the world struggle with. I acknowledge that.

I do want to achieve a lot of things in my life, but having a family is not one of them, and that should be okay. I plan to live a life with my husband, and that is it. I do not think I’ll end up miserable and alone as people say.

Two Feature Leads: Squirrelly Incident [for broadcast; revised]

A SQUIRREL WAS THE CAUSE FOR DISRUPTING A MASSIVE MANHATTAN TRANSIT COMMUTES YESTERDAY MORNING.

THE SQUIRREL TIED UP THE METRO-NORTH COMMUTER RAILROAD POWER LINES, INTERFERING WITH NEARLY 47-THOUSAND COMMUTERS FROM RETUNRING HOME.

IT APPARENTLY SNUCK ITS WAY INTO THE TRAIN’S MAJOR POWER LINES AND YANKED ELECTRICAL WIRES RESULTING IN AN ELECTRICAL POWER SURGE, SAYS METRO-NORTH SPOKESWOMAN DONNA EVANS.

MAINTENANCE CREWS HAD THE TRAINS RUNNING AGAIN BY EARLY THIS MORNING.

Focus Story Structure: Football Injury

When teenage boys join the football team, they don't typically think about the severe risks involved, until it's too late. Unfortunately, that was the case for 16-year-old Pete Stenhoff.

Stenhoff, a junior and football player at Child Visa High School in Redmond, California, cracked his vertebrae while slamming into the ball carrier's chest. He is not confined to a wheelchair.

Considering his injuries, Stenhoff is not bitter. "I knew the risks involved when I decided to play football," he says, and adds, "I wish I would have known just how bad it could be."

Each year, there are 20,000 injuries in high school football; Twelve percent of them permanently disable the victims, a thirty-five percent of the injuries are to the neck and head. Most critics blame the helmet.

Commentary Piece: Maybe I'm just old fashioned

Last night, my friend Stephanie and I went to San Francisco to see an old friend for her birthday. Kayla was turning the ancient age of 20.

We spent the day in her apartment, which is amazing to someone who still lives at home, and later spent some time at Serrimonte Mall. It felt nice to spend time with good friends, until Kayla wanted to party to "celebrate her birthday".

As a college student myself, I understand most of my friends and peers party every single weekend. They either drink from Thursday to Sunday, or they talk about their wild nights. However, I don’t live my life that way. Maybe I’m boring, but I just have too many things to do during the weekend that I have no time or energy to go out.

Unfortunately, I’ve observed something in Kayla and her roommates that is far worse than drinking and partying every weekend: As Kayla and her roommates were getting ready for Kayla’s “birthday celebration,” their lack of self worth and their degrading relationship with men was surprising.

“I met him that night, and we only made out,” says Kayla’s roommate Lina. As she paused for the rest of our reaction, she exclaimed, “What?! That’s all we did! He’s a pimp, but he’s a really nice guy. I call him ‘pimp-daddy.’”

Little did I know, Lina’s interest was an actual pimp. I was sick to my stomach that any woman would date anyone so despicable.

Then, there was Sonia—another roommate. Sonia had been “facebooking” her interest. They’re never met in person, and last night was the night they would meet. In order to get ready, Sonia drank 2 shots of Grey Goose, and wore 5-inch heels with “shorts” and low cut top.

Needless to say, I said my goodbyes and left before the party started. I was just so disgusted by the way these girls thought about men and how they present themselves. It wasn’t respectable or attractive to me. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I’m use to meeting guys personally, dressing a little more refined around them, and being sober, especially around someone I was interested in. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.

Ethical Decisions

Scenario 1: Even though the documents on her desk are related to my investigation, my only action would be to ask her about the documents when she returns. The journalist part of me would desperately want to read them and use the information to my advantage, but the way I obtained that information could not be justified honorably.

Scenario 2: Yes, I would take the job as an orderly and report back my experience. My first job is a reporter; I must report back information the public would find useful. I feel they should know in what ways their local nursing home is substandard .

Scenario 3: When using another writer's information and incorporating it into your own piece (even from a web site), I must credit the other written source.