frank - up in grand blanc wrote:That young girl will do fine thanks to aforementioned connections. No question that there are lots of young dreamers waiting in the wings for the gig, but having a powerhouse of a network is just the thing for jumpstarting or saving a career.
I once worked for a guy who without warning would announce that our new summer intern was scheduled to begin tomorrow or yesterday or something. Invariably these were the home-from-school-for-the-summer undergrad students of his country club buddies and so some poor sap or saps would have to dream up tasks and otherwise keep junior occupied for two or three months. And so an uninspired child of privilege would get (a) good income, (b) practical experience, and (c) the beginnings of their own professional network and resume, meaning that life was good for these undeserving brats unless you consider that the possibility that they'd have rather spent the summer at the club's pool or getting high in the basement of dad's Grosse Pointe pad.
Agency life isn't the cat's ass, but it can be entertaining as well as lucrative as hell, so getting pushed into a plum opportunity really does represent a leg up as well as an end-run around what is normally two or three years of knocking on doors and carrying water.
I don't personally know Podell's daughter so maybe she's hardworking and talented in her own right, but when I hear of her I think of those fucking kids shoehorned into what can be a very, very good life, and then I think of the guys in the warehouse or on cube row who likely had talent but not the juice to cut into the front of the line.
I used to resent the legacy babies who got big breaks or were endlessly coddled in the workplace, all because of their connected lineage. Now that many moons have passed, I mostly shrug off their privileged existence as another "it is what it is" situation. Much of how professional life works out is a big roll of the dice, and while I've hit the brick wall before, I've also caught lucky breaks along the way as well. Sometimes the bear bites you; sometimes you bite the bear.
At most channels, if on-air talent were to drop the F bomb live, they'd be canned immediately. No second chances- no opportunity to explain- just a harsh termination letter referencing how the FCC license is now in jeopardy thanks to their reckless and gross disregard of station policy. Remember AJ Clemente, the nervous guy in North Dakota who muttered a few bad words under his breath on his first (and last) day? He was suspended by lunchtime and fired before dinner.
I don't see that happening here, but if it did, she could join Mike Clark and Mike Wolters as they swear like sailors on their podcasts and lament about not landing paying jobs after the WRIF gig ended.
