Today was the worst day of my career

[HEyHEY]

Last night as I did the paper I was 100 per cent careful, I mean I went through it all, I even put the classifieds in three times to make sure they were correct.
But last week our publisher, who usually erases last weeks ads was sick. So, instead of getting rid of the old ads, they put a new folder in the "ads for the week folder" I was supposed to get this week's ads from it. Well, I got all the ads right, but somehow I managed to put the classifieds from last week in.
Now, my publisher is okay, she said don't sweat it and she understands why it happened.
As well, she blamed it on our tech position, which is shit. See, last night the computers kept fucking with me and wouldn't PDF properly and I was there VERY late. So, now, she's bitched to head office and we HAVE THREE NEW COPMPUTERS COMING!!!!!
But still, I don't get why it happened. I checked the classifieds THREE fucking times. I wanted this paper to be perfect and I went to bed thinking it was.
I spent the afternoon staring blankly at my desk.
I think my saving grace is that the subscriotion and sales rates have gone up a whole lot since I took over as editor. But I just feel like such a lose..I mean I can take it when I fuck up because I got lazy, but when I tried so hard and it happens...it's a bitter bitter pill to swallow. I keep thinking I bit off more than I could chew taking an editor postion after only a few months in the business. I just don't get it...I checked three times.

Sometimes the only solice you have is that you tried your best. But man, I can't shake this.

It has me worried..I want this to be the best paper in the fucking province..I really do.

Blah................................................................................ Takes another swig of Guiness.

[Taylor Mason Powell]

1. You know, shit happens...

...sometimes despite our very best efforts. You shall live on to fight another day. In the meantime, don't let it get you too down! Looks like you're on the right track with the Guiness.

:hi:

[GOPisEvil]

2. If you did everything right, and your boss isn't upset...

...I wouldn't sweat it. I know how you feel, but you did what you were supposed to. Sometimes things happen.

[yardwork]

3. Try not to be too hard on yourself.

Everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes lead to good things, because people are impressed by how we react to difficult situations.

Get some sleep and don't obsess over it at work. Just go in tomorrow and move past it.

[flamingyouth]

4. Hang in there

It's their own damn fault for not having provided you with decent equipment sooner.

[HEyHEY]

12. It;s the understaffing more than the tech

I spoke to a friend of mine in New Brunswick, his paper does an average of 48 pages on a 20 person staff...the last month I've done 36, 60 40, 40 with a staff of three

[markus]

29. Sweet Jaysus, 60 pages with a staff of three?

You publisher is not going to fire you. Make sure you don't catch her scraping your tongue in your sleep in hopes of cloning you.

I did the small paper business for almost a decade. Its a thankless job and bad things happen. Focus instead on what you can do (if you have the time) that you can be proud of, and remember that first. The rest is just, well, typestting.

P.S. I must have been thinking of you when I made my lounge post about the Bong Bull? Do you receive this most excellent email/blog?

http://newsgorilla.blogspot.com/

Cheer youself up. Have another pint. Tomorrow's another edition.

[mike_c]

5. life bites you in the ass sometimes...

...and you'll probably never make that mistake again. Slim comfort, I know, but one day you'll look back on this as a valuable experience. I'm sorry you feel crappy now.

[Lisa0825]

6. HeyHey, last week, I had the worst day of my career...

I won't go into details, but lets just say yelling, cursing, and crying were all involved. But you know what? It's been less than a week, and some good things have emerged from it. I hope that you'll see good things emerge from your bad day too.

[Kenneth ken]

7. do this

"...but somehow I managed to put the classifieds from last week in." Learn exactly how you managed to do that. You're new at your job, you'll make mistakes. The important thing is not to make the same ones over. So, learn what failed and how to avoid in future.

Unfortunately, you can't go back in time and fix the mistake that already happened; so the best you can do is learn from it.

Then, feel free to berate yourself for a reasonable amount of time, then let it go. Most likely, no one died due to this error, so use that as a check on perspective.

:hi:

peace :hippie:

[GCP]

8. Hey, at least you didn't kill someone

Like a colleague of mine did by accident. RN accidentally let an IV line of lidocaine flow in at full rate off-pump, and the guy coded and later died.
You feel like shit just now?
Imagine how my friend felt.

[Taylor Mason Powell]

9. Oh Jesus.

Now THAT is a bad day at the office.

Seriously, that's why I could never be in the medical field or any field where if I screwed up someone could die. Because I WOULD screw SOMETHING up, sooner or later, and I'd never be able to live with myself.

[gristy]

10. Oh, my gosh.

If I owned a paper I'd want an editor with your kind of dedication. Shit, everyone goofs up sometimes. And this one doesn't sound like a biggie. And you know what, your publisher is secretly glad it happened, since she knows how much it hurt you, and she knows you're going to be just an absolutely incredible editor to make it up to her now.

My advice is don't sweat it, and hire as many good people as you can afford.

[liberalhistorian]

11. Even the very best editors

make mistakes like this, it just happens. I'm not surprised that the sales and subscriptions have gone up since you took over and you should be very proud of that.

BTW, at least you HAVE a job, I've been unemployed for over a month now with no job in sight despite a full-time job search and numerous interviews and I'm getting desperate. I've been thinking about checking into being a stringer for our local paper. I'm a paralegal, but I also have a writing and journalism background as well.

[EV1Ltimm]

13. i wish the worst days of my carrer were like that...

so don't feel too bad.

I'll share a short story. Me, misplaced decimal point, 25 thousand dollars.

A couple of panic attacks and gray hairs shortly thereafter, i'd say i'm a better person for it.

[flowomo]

14. ok, time to chill.... as a newspaper editor for 10 years...

I can say for a fact that you will have these days regularly... some small gaffes, some huge fuckups... and if you get this far down every time, you'll burn out very fast. Do your best, learn from your mistakes, expect new mistakes after you've mastered the old ones. Feel bad for a little while after you make one, and then move on.

[HEyHEY]

16. That's the thing

I solved other probs..but each week some new adverse situation occurs that hits me right outta the blue.

One of the greatest journalists in BC (Gerry Porter) was one of my ethics instructors in college...he said during his retirement speech,
"You'll have bad times...but I've seen alot of people die at the bottom of a bottle. You'll never surives that way...just stand back and laugh at the grand comedy...you'll get through."

Here I am moaning and drinking...old Gerry would smack me upside the head if he was here.

[flowomo]

20. so, why the hell aren't you heeding that good advice?

maybe you don't have the temperment for this work? You can't be cavalier about the mistakes -- they are embarassing; they cost money; they can potentially harm the readers -- so you feel the sting, but you don't dwell on them. I don't know your situation there, particularly if you have underlings (reporters, shooters, layout people etc), but you can't let them see you in this kind of swoon. As the editor, you have to lead -- and this depression is no place from which to do that. I am not saying don't feel bad -- I always felt horrible. But you let it go. Move on to the next triumph -- and prepare for the next mistake.

[HEyHEY]

25. temperment or no..I can't imagine being anything else

My "support staff" is a bit of a problem...I don't even get all the ads and classifieds until about 9:00 on produciton day.

Andit isn't ther fault..we're understaffed

[flowomo]

27. all papers are understaffed! or think they are....

What's your situation there? Daily? Weekly? Market? Hard/breaking news or features? How big's the staff?

[HEyHEY]

30. All news

Weeklypaper in a small town...I try to throw it all in. I figure there are different types of readers...so I want to give something for all...my sports section needs work ..lots of work.
But it's three people, and a freelance and a one day a week production assistant...putting out an average of 36-40 pages
I did 60 a few weeks ago.

[flowomo]

31. weeklies are meatgrinders..... do your time, learn your trade....

make your mistakes.... then get a job at a daily and earn the chance to make 'em every day! But for one last thing, and a good piece of therapy -- tell us ONE thing you did recently that was really good in that paper.....

[HEyHEY]

32. Well, as I mention in another post

Since my arrival...subscription and sales have gone way up.

[NightTrain]

15. Dude, that totally sucks.

Sorry I can't think of something more profound or comforting to say. But I at least wanted you to know that I feel for you! :toast:

[HEyHEY]

18. Well, thanks

I guess I should be thankful I feel anything for work, I could be at Walmart feeling numb.

[legin]

17. Probably not a good idea to get too stressed

You can get into a very negative dynamic with this checking thing.

A couple of years ago I did the minutes for our organisation and had to take them all the way across town to photocopy multiple copies (a voluntary sector thing).

I had become a little overstressed by organising things which is not quite my temperment.

I checked five times minimum that these minutes were in my bag before I left. It was pretty close to being compulsive behaviour.

I got halfway to my destination and I checked again and they were not in there. Before i left I had taken them out of my bag to check they were in my bag and consequently they were still sitting on the table at home.

Calm and collected is the best plan I think. Get it right first time, one check just to make sure. Once you get into a state, things start going a little haywire.

[glarius]

19. A phrase that has comforted me on occasion through my life is

"This too shall pass.".....I don't know why, but there is something calming about that phrase....I don't know where it comes from, possibly the bible.....But think about it....This unhappy circumstance I am in at present will pass away like those before it have.....They always do pass you know....:)

I hope this doesn't sound preachy, because I don't mean it that way.

[HEyHEY]

22. Hey glarius..I've been wondering where you've been as of late

Figured vacation..or I was missing your posts by circumstance.

:-)

Hope all is well

[glarius]

26. Everything is fine .....thanks

It's been a busy time for my family lately....Take some of the good advice given here....You have your whole life ahead of you...Things will work out!....:)

[Mikimouse]

21. Nobody's perfect... these things happen to the most dedicated ..

and careful people. Take another sip of Guiness', and relax. You aren't going to change anything by beating yourself to a pulp.

[HEyHEY]

23. what really gets me

Is I saw the work the guys that came before me did...it's awful...I think "How could these bums hack it?"

Worst is I keep foregettin my fly-fishing stuff at home so I can't escape.

[Mikimouse]

33. Think about it this way...

If you didn't recognize slipshod work for what it is, you wouldn't really care about doing a better job than they did. It is because you care about the actual quality of the final copy, and not just the paycheck, that you are genuinely bothered by what happened this time around. You're OK, just human with good plans and good intentions.
By the way, the best thing to do is to pack your fly fishing stuff in the trunk of yuor car so it is always handy. I keep my 6 weight and fly box in there for any possibility. I'll be thinking of you later this week when I am standing in the Little Missouri hauling out Rainbows. Great place, single hook, no barb, catch and release only (we go to another stretch of the river if we want to eat fish.)

[demosincebirth]

24. The key is to learn from you're mistake.

[dweller]

28. but on the flip side

3 NEW COMPUTERS! are on the way...

now you get to master them, maybe learn a new op sys...a new learning experience maybe opening up for you.

dp

[Generic Other]

34. Cheer up! The next mistake will be bigger and better!

I edit a small literary magazine and can sympathize with you. For some reason the errors are always magnified after the fact although nearly invisible when I am first looking for them!

I always blame Bill Gates. :)

[woofless]

35. How do I know that you will be fine?

Because you give a shit. You care. You try. You work hard.

You'll be fine.

Woof

[HEyHEY]

36. thanks woof

:-)

[woofless]

37. You're welcome Brother.

[Pithlet]

38. I'm sorry.

I know it's a horrible feeling. I once screwed up a garnishment and someone didn't get their child support check on time. I felt horrible about that for a long time, and still wince when I think about it.