Occupation Hazard

Sigh, I've been clocking in more than 12 hours for the past three days. Like I told Fadz, even my eye bags have bags.

He replied, "LV or Prada?"

Gucci, of course, darling.

I have been labouring over the unfortunate drowning incident involving a student from my alma mater.

In case you've been living under a rock and have not read / watched / listened to the news, get the details here and the previous day's news. Not mentioning kid's name so that my blog wouldn't pop up when people do google searches.

Was stationed at the site for the past two days, trying to get interviews with the school president and the family.

What sucked the most is that I kinda feel emotional attachment to this story, seeing how it's my alma mater, my beloved school.

When it comes to such cases, journalists usually take a detached view so that we can get things done in the most objective manner.

Yesterday, when there was still hope that the boy could be found, I didn't feel so bad.

But when we received news that his body had been recovered today.... sigh....

Having to separate personal from professional was really tough. Having to grill Woody, seeing his huanted face, and pushing ahead with questions about safety and checks... Having to deal with the corp comms team like Ann, Sharon, Karen, Shirley... How does one stay emotionally detached?

I guess I simply buckled down and went into auto-response mode.

But when L's father started wailing AS we were interviewing Woody... that was really, really hard.

I did the story as best I could. When the school requested we not put L's photo on our website, we agreeably took it down out of respect for the family.

But when the other media repeated posted his picture.. I mean... I have to do what I have to do. I told Sharon the same thing.

I think the worst part was when L's sister gave a press conference and read out a statement. Having to deal face to face with such raw devastation really choked me up.

When I stepped forward to offer condolences to his sister, I started to tear up and had to look away.

How unprofessional is that.

But the reality is that journalism is part coldhearted.

We deal with deaths almost on a daily basis, be it accident or murder or whatnot.

But when you spend 2 days surrounded by people you have a connection to, no matter how remote, and not some random stranger altogether... maybe I'm weak, but I found it tough to deal.

Am I right for this profession? I'm not too sure. Maybe I just need to be more emotionally detached.

I'm so, so drained now. I can't even begin to think about commencement next week.