My first week with Patch

I’m finishing up my first week of freelancing for Patch.com. I was in Farmington, CT. on Monday/Tuesday and have been in Manchester, CT. since then doing profiles of local businesses and their ownership. I’ve met some interesting people from all walks of life: a Vietnamese immigrant that started a nail salon with her daughter;  a gentlemen that owns the same printing company his great-grandfather started over 100 years ago; and a real estate agent that was very kind to me but too busy to talk long because he was busy with so many clients.

This job, so short into it, has given me an opportunity to meet regular people doing what they do to put food on the table for their families and pay the rent. I get a 15 minute window into their lives from behind the mask of journalist and it makes me appreciate all the hard work of regular people that usually goes unnoticed.

Do you ever stop and think about what the guy that comes to hook your cable will be doing after work? Or the woman that does your pedicure? How about the guy that cleaned the bathroom moments after you’ve washed your hands and almost got the paper towel into the trash?

There are unsung heroes everywhere in our lives and they go unnoticed because we’re all too busy to say “Hey, thanks.” I don’t think it’s because we’re rude; no definitely not. We’re busy making our own ends meet – hustling to the next meeting, calling and making appointments, busting our ass hours on end each day to make sure the bills get paid on time.

I guess I am just fortunate to get to make my ends meet by learning how others do it.

To all of you out there doing it – I thank you.