I guess I should do my homework now...

I am nothing if not a procrastinator.

In fact, I finally decided to write a blog post because I'm avoiding doing homework that is due in just a few hours. I had originally created a blog called Life So Far with a matching URL. I procrastinated so long in writing a post that I forgot my user name and password. I had to create a new Life So Far blog with a different URL, because lifesofar.blogspot was taken...by me. Ai yi yi.

edit: this post originally started on 11/19/10. current date: 11/21/10

Anyway, back to procrastination. In my media law class, we had an assignment that involved interviewing a professional journalist about a specific article. It's a big assignment, and we've been talking about it throughout the semester. Around mid-September, I contacted a journalist and he said he would be willing to talk to me. We exchanged a few e-mails and tried to set up a time to do the interview, but then things got kind of crazy. Through a combination of missed e-mails and busy weeks, we fell out of communication. I was so busy trying to keep my head above water each day that I didn't really think about a paper that was due a month from then.

Fast forward a month. It's Friday, and my paper is due on Tuesday. I'm freaking out, convinced that there's no way the reporter will talk to me. I'm sure I'm going to fail this class, have to drop out of grad school and be forced to play supporting characters in a string of Lifetime Original Movies about eating disorders and unwanted pregnancies. I wasn't ready to deal with that hard, cruel life.

I nervously e-mailed him, apologize profusely and asking if there's any way he'll talk to me within the next 3 days. Luckily, he happens to work Sunday-Thursday, and agrees to talk with me Sunday morning.

I talked to him this morning, and he was so incredibly nice. Very helpful, very intelligent, more than willing to share information that he has accrued over years of working for one of the most respected newspapers in the United States to a lowly grad student. He took time out of his day to help someone that probably can't help him back.

Sometimes people are really mean for no reason. They cut you off while you're driving or say nasty things to a person they don't even know. But sometimes people are really nice for no reason. They can't get anything out of it and it might even be a little inconvenient, but they do it anyway. Mean people can ruin your day in a few short minutes and put you in a bitter mood. Most people always remember who was mean to them, who slighted them. It's important to remember the nice people too. I really hope I can remember the people who were kind to me when I had nothing to give them, and return the favor 10 fold.