Last night I called the cops on the young hooligans in my neighborhood. For the past several weeks ever since I moved-in to my new apartment in Appleton, teenagers (and I call them that in a cruel-tone) have been coming to our entrances in the middle of the night and buzzed everyone by slapping their hands on the buzzer panel.
Our buzzers aren't like the ones on TV. They're not like the ones on Seinfeld, and they're nothing like doorbells. They're only slightly less annoying than triggered smoke detectors. I found the poorly timed visits a nuisance. So I called the police and made a formal complaint.
They came out and talked to me for a while. I explained that I was sorry for bothering them, and that I knew it wasn't the most important thing they had to deal with. The officer's response really made me think. She said in a very matter of fact way, "Well, it's important to you."
It made me think about what we do as community journalists. The stories we cover sometimes seem trivial. They may not matter or effect me, or you... but they matter to somebody. And that alone makes it worthwhile.
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