a writer's perspective

Today flew by. I stumbled up to the sign in table just before 6am, and before I knew it, I had been walking the line an hour longer than I was scheduled to. Perhaps I can attribute this to my newfound inner-peace. Considering all the hysteria that accompanies the daily ups and downs of negotiating, I have decided, at least for the time-being, to just let go.

As someone said to me today, “boxers hope they can end the fight in two rounds, but they still have to train for it to go fifteen.” Now, most boxing matches are twelve rounds, but the new me didn’t correct him.

Don’t get me wrong. I am still going to digest the stories and share the headlines and say things like, “Carson Daly is a douchebag”.

I’m still gonna share articles like this one from Financial Times, which talks about how the studios made $120 million in internet ad revenue this year, and how in 2008, the “online video ad market will be worth 1.3 billion”. Yes, that’s a “B”. When you consider that Disney streamed 160 million episodes of shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” this year, it’s not hard to believe.

I’m still gonna tell you that Jimmy Kimmel deserves mad props for quietly picking up the salaries for the majority of his staff.

I’m still gonna tell you that the mood on the picket line is pessimistically optimistical, or something like that.

I’m still gonna share my personal experiences walking the picket line. Like how yesterday someone threw a lit cigarette into our one trashcan and it caught on fire. And how me and one of the strike captains put out the fire by filling several 6 ounce Dixie cups with water from our cooler and dousing the flames before it got out of hand. (We stopped having bottled water back in week 2.)

Or maybe I’ll tell you about the writer who told me how he believes that everybody driving past the picket line should give us the finger, because “all of the writing on television is fucking awful!” After taking twenty minutes to explain to me how Global Warming isn’t real, he tells me that he has a great pitch for a drama-comedy-musical-reality-soap opera.

I’m gonna continue to make suggestions like “If you yell something out your window at the picketers, try to annunciate”. We spent a good ten minutes today debating whether or not this one guy yelled “Stay strong!” or “Get a job!” At an impasse, we decide to set an example for the negotiators and meet halfway. We officially declare that the motorist yelled “Stay a job!”

I’ll tell you how the people who live near the studios have been complaining about the honking, and are threatening to get an injunction to prevent us from striking before 8am. We don’t believe that they have a legal leg to stand on, but we do sympathize, and agree not to hold up any signs that say “HONK” before 8.

I’m gonna tell you how towards the end of my shift today Ben Stiller pulled up and gave us a hearty emphatic thumb of support. Then he made a right turn and drove onto the studio lot. Thank you Ben, for stopping and rolling down your window so that we could take a picture. I think it came out good.

The thing is, at the end of the day, whatever the news is, good or bad, I’m just gonna roll with it. Because, as John Doe and Exene once sang “This is the game that moves as you play.” The “truth” changes every second, and I realize now, that when I hear rumors that the strike could end tomorrow, I know that means it could end in a year. Conversely, when I hear that this is going to last a year, I know that I could be popping the champagne cork before the week is out.

And when that day comes, I’ll tell you all about it.

photo by Heath Biter for LAist