Writer's Block

Seven things that annoy this reporter.

Ok, I was awakened (unwillingly) at 5 a.m., and have had a generally frustrating morning so far, so forgive my grouchiness today. One of my frustrations today has been from a guy who is e-mailing me, my boss and a bunch of other people I work with to complain I "ignored" him two years ago when he "implored" me to do a story that ended up being in the news this year, and basically calling me and my paper a bunch of idiots. In fact, his follow-up e-mail revealed that I did respond to him asking for more information, and that when he contacted us again about it months later, I was on maternity leave.

There are a few things people do that really turn me off, and this guy has managed to hit two or three of them with one stone. So in honor of my bad attitude today, I'm devoting this blog to a list of my pet peeves.

Pet Peeves:

>Going over my head. Calling my boss to complain about me without trying to work it out with me directly first, or at least letting me know you're unhappy, is not cool.

>Threatening. Telling me you know Joe Bradley and will get me fired, saying you're thinking about suing the paper, will make me want to get off the phone with you asap.

>Only seeing one side. Most people out there understand we need to report both sides of the story. But a few people are angry if we quote anybody who disagrees with them.

>Having your own set of facts. Hard to say much about this without mentioning specific people or stories, but some people get very unhappy if we report anything other than their version of the facts, which may or may not be consistent with reality.

>Insulting me. Saying, "I know you're probably going to misquote me, but ... " or "Are you going to make this story biased?" don't make me happy to be talking to you.

>Giving me unhelpful tips. A useful tip is something that gives me an idea of what the story might be about, and where I can follow-up to learn more. When someone tells me I'll learn something juicy if I only "look into" something -- but they won't tell me what the juicy bit is, or where I would start looking for it, I feel incredibly frustrated. The person inevitably goes away thinking I'm lazy or worse when I don't follow up.

>Being sexist. Unbelievably, it still happens.

Wow, reading over my list, I sure am a grouch. The truth is, the vast majority of people are polite, professional and treat me like a human being -- which is all any of us want, anyway. Isn't it funny how we let that 1 percent get under our skin?

Ok -- sunshine and flowers on Friday, I promise.