Dear reader
By the time you get this, I’ll be unemployed.
It was almost three years ago that I found a post-it note stuck to the phone in the cottage I was renting in Hyannis that read, “Call John P. 508 548 4700 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 508 548 4700 end_of_the_skype_highlighting”
Then, as of the time of this publication, I was effectively jobless, though in those days I was able to buy white bread and canned tuna thanks to whatever scarce freelancing assignments I could scavenge.
The John P. in the note was, of course, Bourne and Sandwich Enterprise Editor John Paradise, the first person to reply to the countless resumes I had dispatched into the ether in the previous six months.
Shortly thereafter, I met with John for a brief interview at the Enterprise offices in Falmouth. I explained to him that I knew nothing about local government and had not written anything not related to girls volleyball in over two years. I added, however, that I was eager to learn and had my own car. A week later I was the newest member of the Enterprise’s newsroom staff.
Just last week, I had a chance to reflect on all that I’ve learned about the towns since coming aboard at the Enterprise. I was meeting with my replacement, the very estimable Alex Scofield, who asked what I would most miss about writing for “the paper.”
I told him it would be the sense of ownership and involvement that comes along with being a local newspaper reporter.
We both agreed that, though in the world of reporting there may be broader reaching, higher paying gigs, nothing matches the impact of the local weekly.
There are very few things in this world that I can confidently claim to understand, but I do think I have a solid grip on what matters to the people in Bourne and Sandwich who read the Enterprise. That’s a good feeling.
On Monday, August 9, I will be on the road to Los Angeles with my girlfriend. She will be enrolling in the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic arts; one of 32 students to be accepted into the program. Thousands applied.
As for myself, well, as I’ve already clearly stated, I’ll be unemployed. Hopefully everyone in my and my girlfriend’s extended family will read this, negating the need to explain to yet another third cousin that I am, in fact, without job.
But, y’know, I’ve got goals, too.
When I was a kid, my dad helped me divine the thin line between brave and stupid. As an adult, I think I’ve found that if you follow that line long enough it takes you all the way to Los Angeles, where you convince yourself you can make money by making people laugh.
So, that’s where I’m going. I think almost anybody who writes ultimately sees himself as a storyteller. Whether it is through writing articles or telling jokes, the relay of information is what allows us to come to terms the tension of constantly observing.
I hope to continue observing. And I hope I can tell stories that matter as much to the people who hear them as the stories printed by the Enterprise matter to you.
Best,
DAVID A. FONSECA
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
