Stooopid

Ok, that's just sad. And stupid.

And people wonder why I don't subscribe to the Strib.

I'm serious about that, too. I can be chatting with a neighbor or someone I met at a party, something that was mentioned in the paper comes up, and I'm clueless; they inform me of what's going on; I shrug my shoulders and say, "Well, I haven't subscribed in years." They express shock and wonder at this statement, and perhaps look down on me, like I'm an idiot, that of course I should be subscribing, otherwise how will I know what Garrison Keilor has written this week? I honestly don't give a rat's ass what the Strib has published and, in general, the People's Republic of Minnesota is a much nicer place to live when you're not aware of what a select group of idiots (coughcoughMinneapolisCityCouncilcoughcoughStateLegislatorscoughcough...) are up to. I mean, honestly: what does it matter if I pay attention anyway? Will anyone in the establishment listen to me if I complain? No. So, why bother?

What's funny is that a few months back, when I wasn't blogging, I was actually called by a Strib reporter, who shall remain nameless because I can't remember his name. He left a message on my voice mail in regards to Mike Zabawa and could I please call him back? I have a brother that goes by that name and I wondered what he could have possibly done to merit attention. I call the guy back, and I find out that it's not my brother he's asking about, but rather this guy, who, allegedly, tried to wipe a Waseca family out of existence on a cold February night. I told him I didn't know him, and if I was related to him I certainly didn't know anything about it. Since he seemed disinclined to believe me, I had to explain that "Zabawa" is actually a pretty common Polish name, so, no, even though my maiden name is the same, I probably wasn't related to the guy. The reporter was also surprised that I didn't know anything about this. He seemed to assume that everyone knew all about the story and when I told him I didn't, because, ahem, I didn't subscribe to the Strib. His reply: "Shame on you." And he was half-serious, too! I told him I subscribed to the FT, and that shut him up. It just goes to show you what a ridiculous air of entitlement this newspaper---and some of its employees---gives off. It seems they just assume you should subscribe because you live here, that quality of content doesn't come into the equation. It's a ridiculously blind way to go about your business.

It's like a pot dealer not realizing that their market is eroding due to meth sales.

That said, I kind of had the feeling Lileks would get the ax, or a demotion, at some point. His column has been whacked at with the column-inch weed whacker for years, so that it's barely a shadow of what it used to be. They changed it from "The Backfence" to "The Quirk" and they moved it from the Variety page to the Metro section when they changed the name. (At least I think they did. The only time I pick up the paper lately is at the oncologist's office.) It's been coming for some time. God only knows what they're going to do to him next, but he's much too talented a writer to be forced to churn out stories about the Internet. I'm sure he'll give it his best shot, because that's just who he is, but it's a magnificent squandering of talent if I've ever seen one.

{see also: Martini Boy's Bartender and the Llamas}

Posted by Kathy at May 7, 2007 02:38 PM | TrackBack