Home Delivery

One of the benefits of living in New York is the local paper. It would be difficult for me to be more enthusiastic about the New York Times.

Their reporting is fantastic, but their billing is awful. I've subscribed for about a dozen years. They almost always send bills that arrive after my payment is due to them.

Today I went online to check my account because I suspected there was a billing error, but my password and ID combination didn't work.

I love when access to ID or password information is dependent upon answering vague questions such as: What is your favorite book?

Avid readers of the New York Times tend to be regular readers with multiple favorite books. Choosing a favorite book is like identifying a favored child. Who chose this question?

Clearly, my reply to the question didn't work.

So, I used my new Skype phone to call customer service. This is only the third time I've used the phone.

It sounded like my call was picked up and put on hold. What a shock to hear a recording advertising a sex phone service on the New York Times customer care line.

Did Skype accept a call from some random service? Is the New York Times aware that this sex ad is running on its call holding recording?

I checked the number again.

I had inverted the last two digits. So much for "hot girls open to all you've got" while you are on hold with the publisher of all news fit to print.

Fair and Faith

Against my better judgement, I attended a Monster.com / New York Times job fair in the Times Square area today. This was my first experience at a job fair. Most likely it will be my last because it appears that these events are used to fill more junior positions than I am seeking.

At least now I know what job fairs are like.

I waited in a line for 2 hours to get in. It was about 30 degrees F outside. Fortunately, about 2/3 of the line was snaking around the inside of the Marriott Marquis.

Several television cameras were there to take footage of the throngs of jobless people. I suppose they wanted to capture a visual to punctuate reporting on the current economic situation. However, it was humiliating to be recorded as one of the pitiful people seeking work in a brutal job market.

The fellow waiting behind me struck up a conversation with a photographer who was there on assignment with the New York Times. They had a long conversation that I couldn't help overhearing. At the close, they asked that I take a photograph of the two of them. The photographer confidently handed to me his massive camera and showed me which button to press.

I have a dear friend who is a professional photographer, and know that her camera is her baby. This equipment often costs more than car and is easily broken. Not only is it expensive, their livelihood is dependent on this machine. As I took the camera from the photographer's outstretched hand I asked him whether he was certain he wanted me to use it. He was.

It is somewhat pathetic, but it made me feel good that this stranger trusted me to use his precious camera. In a situation where I was feeling a profound loss of faith in myself, he had faith in me.

So, today I snapped a photograph of a New York Times photographer and an out-of-work attorney in line at the Monster Job Fair using the photographer's top-of-the-line camera.