Reflections on a Good Friday that was really bad

By Lethbridge Herald on April 8, 2023.

LEAVE IT TO BEEBER
Al Beeber

As I ruminate at the computer with coffee at hand and Hair Nation on the satellite radio in the darkness before other staff arrive on Good Friday, I truly feel lucky to be here at The Herald.

Three years ago on Good Friday, I worked my last shift before a six-month temporary layoff started because of the impact COVID-19 was having on the media like all other businesses.

The layoff notice caught me by surprise to a degree but it was clear with declining revenues and smaller papers there wasn’t enough work in the newsroom for everyone. I felt someone would be going and my intuition is seldom wrong.

There were two someones that day – me and Dale Woodard. I thought it ironic that as I cleaned up – and cleaned out – my desk that the day was Good Friday. 

When I left the office that evening I felt I was leaving a huge part of my life behind. I’d given my heart and soul to the paper, missing much of my only son’s childhood due to the demands of this business which isn’t for the faint of heart. Newspaper journalism takes sacrifices and a willingness to put in long hours to get the job done. Since I started at Highway 52 Feeders in high school, I’ve had a work ethic that nobody can challenge. In high school, along with my neighbour, the late Doug Bassett who I still miss to this day, I put in 30-40 hours a week at the feedlot after school and on weekends. Somehow, I still managed to graduate with honours which was the result of hard effort and determination. And given the dysfunctional mess of my home life, I’m still surprised I accomplished that while still maintaining a robust social life in an era when thankfully cellphones and social media didn’t exist.

Most of my value as a human being has come from my ability to work because of the nightmare I grew up in where self-esteem and self-respect were stripped away and I was tossed into the gutter of neglect because of my family’s personal issues.

 My need to prove myself is how I’ve succeeded in life, a need I still have on a daily basis. I never stop moving except to sleep. 

So it was horrifically tough leaving here on that Good Friday in 2020. It took my breath away because work is the only thing I’ve ever been any good at. And my work here has given me the chance to really become a part of the fabric of this community, as it did in Fort Frances where 43 years later I still have some very close friends.

On Good Friday three years after that layoff, I’m at the top of the professional world here.

I’ve gone from a person with uncertainty about his future to the  managing editor of this Lethbridge institution. I’m truly honoured and privileged to be at this desk in a hushed, empty newsroom as I put in some hours on a day off.  I’m honoured to serve our community and the management who trusted me with this position, trust I will be working to earn every single day I draw a breath until I die or retire. 

The operative word is ‘earn’ because we all have to earn our keep in this world. We can’t expect the rewards of life to be handed to us on a silver platter without earning them.

And no matter how long we’ve been doing our jobs as journalists, we in this profession need to understand there is always someone better, quicker and smarter who could easily fill our positions. 

I’ve never lost sight of that since my my first day walking down Scott Street in Fort Frances as the Times’ new sports editor, totally out of place in the wilderness, knowing not a single person, but knowing in my heart I was going to succeed. Because that’s what I do. Failure has never been an option.

And today as I look back at that difficult day three years ago, I’m still gobsmacked that I’m now where I am today. 

I’m not taking this opportunity for granted. The newspaper industry is facing challenges and as I work with my staff to produce the best possible paper we can I know dealing with those challenges isn’t easy. We’ve got some issues that need to be worked out and I’m going to get the job done one way or another.

I’m putting even more hours in than I always have to make sure our team puts out the best paper on a daily basis that we can. 

And that’s what leaders do – they’re the first to be at work in the morning and often they’re the last to leave. 

We have an obligation to set an example to others and the example I’ve always tried to set is being a person willing to take on the biggest and most demanding challenges. As a former managing editor said at a Christmas party one year, if an emergency arose and only one person could come to work to get a paper out, the person to do it would be me because I do everything. And I do it on deadline. In fact, I do it before deadline because I always believe in working quickly to leave time in case an unforeseen problem arises.

This ability didn’t happen by accident – it happened by determination and I hope I’m still showing that determination to my staff, bosses and the community. Because determination is what any newspaper needs to survive and thrive.

 And I believe this newspaper has a long future here because of the determination of those who work here and those in the community who believe in us.

I’m proud to be part not only of this newspaper’s present but it’s future as well. I’m proud to be part of this community

And with Easter 2023 here, I’m proud to be able to continue serving you readers in this new role. 

But I still need to clean up my desk – now that’s going to take real determination! 

Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter.