the end of something

yesterday afternoon, i was called into a meeting with the VP of marketing at the chronicle to be told that the paper might shut the doors. soon.

while it's no surprise that the industry sucks and the newspaper is hemorrhaging dollars ($50 mill last year), no one was prepared to hear that a "substantial number" of us will be laid off, and if the guild (our union) and the teamsters union can't come to an immediate solution, the paper will go up on the block or close.

wha?

this paper has been around since 1865!

i know everybody kicks us around, but the truth for me is that i've always loved the chronicle and have been proud to work here. it's been good to me. i don't know anyone else with two kids that has a part-time job situation as good as i do.

i love dressing up and going downtown three days a week to be an adult for eight hours and not having to take care of anyone's needs. i'm proud of a lot of the work i've done there. saturday new homes, not so much...

i love turning the corner at market and 5th and looking up at the clock tower and knowing that i'm part of something that matters, that's bigger than me, and that's been around for much longer.

if i lose this job, i lose health insurance for my family and the only steady paycheck we have.

but it's more than that. it's herb caen, it's charles mccabe, it's merla zellerbach, it's pat montandon, it's stanton delaplane, it's john flinn and so many great bylines from the past. its phil bronstien, michael bauer, leah garchik, matier and ross, aidin, joel, peter hartlaub, john king, suzanne herel and all my colleagues of the present.

it's sad day for san francisco.