No longer “that lady on TV”
June 5, 2009 by Shannon
I’ve never been especially fond of being recognized as “that lady on TV.” In fact, some days I found it downright irritating. (Sometimes, you just want to pick out your produce at the grocery store like any normal person, without having to go through a game of 20 Questions.) I got used to it, because it comes with the territory when you work in local news. Now that I’ve made the choice to leave a job I loved, the reaction I get in public is a bit more interesting than irritating.
Two days after my last newscast, I was standing at a department store checkout counter, paying for my purchases. The young female checker fixed her eyes on me and uttered that familiar question, “Aren’t you on the news?” I told her no, I just left my job two days ago.
“Oh, but you were on Fox 12.”
“Up until two days ago, yeah,” I replied.
“I knew it. I thought that was you.”
Hmm, I thought. She didn’t grill me with questions like, why did you leave or did you get a new job? The fact that she didn’t really care was fine by me. In fact, I started thinking this whole stay-at-home thing is going to be nice and low profile. Perfect.
This week, I was waiting to go through the checkout line at the grocery store when I met eyes with a store employee.
“You’re not doing the news anymore,” she said.
“Nope,” I answered, and pointed at Kellan in the cart in front of me. “Staying home to be with him.” I expected her to respond with the same sort of half-hearted interest I got from the checker at the department store the week prior.
“Good for you,” she said as she slowly nodded her approval and smiled. “Miss you though.”
I thanked her and stood there in a sort of shock. It was the look in her eyes — of kindness, sympathy and understanding — that stunned me. After years of feeling like little more than a novelty in the public’s eye, I was dumbfounded that my presence on the job (or lack of it) would make a difference to anyone.
Maybe she was just being nice. But it’s good to know that at least one person valued what I did during my career, and understands why I had to leave. And oddly enough, it happened in the one place where recognition usually makes me cringe. Only now, I’m being recognized for the changes I’m making for the better, not for how familiar I look to others in the grocery store checkout line.
Comments (5)
Got to say that I think you made a wonderful choice to stay home and raise your son - work is just that - WORK
your rewards lay within your family
we miss you here at work that is for sure but those of us who have kids look at you with wonder and awe that we wish we could be doing what your doing now
enjoy this very special time
Even though people don’t say it enough, I know there are many others out there in Boise tv market that feel the same way!
To quote Tolle, “Lose yourself to find yourself.”
Consider that it’s a measure of success that people recognize you; you’ve established a relationship (albeit this weird one-way sort of one), and when people see you “live,” they look for some way to resolve the tension between knowing and not-knowing.
If we’ve met and interacted with someone, but then fail to recognize and acknowledge him or her, and the meeting, it’s considered rude. Granted, you don’t want or need tens of thousands of friends, but you do have lots of “acquaintances.” It’s a burden, but the demand on civility goes both ways. Most of the interactions won’t get past phatic, but enjoy those–such as this one–that do.
You might be surprised how many people recognize you but respect your privacy.
For your years of keeping us in touch with our community and the world, Thank You, And we miss you.