Tales of a Fledgling Journalist: a (most likely) reoccuring post of my naivity

Today was an interesting addition to my repertoire as a learning journalist. Instead of having regular class, my journalism class was sent on an assignment. We were sent across the bridge to PNC Park where the city was abuzz with Pirate's fans. Our goal was to interview at least 3 people and gather details for a narrative article. Pittsburgh always has an interesting array of people, but imagine all of them coming together piss drunk. It made for a very fun time. Most of them didn't seem to be remotely interested in the game, as they walked in and out of the stadium freely.

Interviewing people is nerve racking, yet exciting. My adrenaline was pumping, and I started feeling good. I spotted a woman holding a colorful handmade sign. It read, "Dedicated Pirates fan needs a ticket." I was enticed by her spunk and approached her immediately. She was overly willing to talk to me. This woman is popular at sporting events, as is her sign. She attends Steeler games, Penguin games, and Pirate games with her sign and nine times out of ten gets a free or dirt cheap ticket. While I was engaging her a man handed her a ticket and sprinted away. She replied with a, "WOO! I got into the Lexus!" The Lexus has the best view of all the seats. According to her she was right at home plate. Before she skipped off I asked her to give me a few last details about herself. She told me her profession was a domestic engineer. When I inquired as to what that was, she laughed and replied, "a house wife!" She was the spunkiest little 66 year-old woman I've ever met. She had no problem revealing her age to me, she was damn proud of it. Her interview gave me confidence to seek out other fans.

The tailgaters looked relaxed and approachable. Their bellies were full of food and beer and they had smile on their faces. A harmless group of old men sitting in the back of their SUV eating peanuts seemed approachable. It was definitely an interesting experience to say the least. I thought I was clever by approaching and asking which one was the biggest fan. It went over terribly, at first. After a moment the one man opened up, a little too much. He offered me "water" from his red cup, flicked his cigar on my shoe, and proceeded to hit on my vehemently. He asked for further compensation for his interview, and insinuated more. Luckily, I'm used to my guy friends hitting on me, and sensed no danger from them. This helped me proceed in talking to them and getting good quotes. One including how his wife filled his sons diaper bag with beer for baseball games. When I was ending the interview, I asked him what he did for a living. His reply was that he was a surrogate father that impregnated women for money. He said he didn't have any takers yet, and asked me to hang posters at my college. As revolting as he was, it was all entertaining. I just kept kicking myself for not having anything to record it with!

What an outlandish experience!

Tales of a Fledgling Journalist: a (most likely) reoccuring post of my naivity