22 FEB 06: TEN YEARS AFTER

It was 22 Feb 96. It was a Thursday, and a springlike one at that. It was so mild that I went for a morning jog, before driving to work. I didn't realize I'd have all night to jog when the workday ended -- not to mention the next three months.

This is a noteworthy day for me, because ten years ago today I was fired from CNN Headline News in Atlanta. That started the transition from big-city news writer to smaller-city blogger - and for all the grumbling I heard from Atlanta co-workers, I now know the pay there was a whole lot better.

My career at CNN Headline News lasted a bit more than 11 years, much of that writing news copy. My scripts were read by Lyn Vaughn, Chuck Roberts, Lynne Russell, the late Don Harrison - and as a man at church told me once: "You write what the pretty people read."

For several years, I also was the man behind the "Factoids" which appeared on CNN Headline News every half-hour throughout the day. Even one or two-line bits of information and statistics can cause controversy. When your editor bars any mention of civil rights on Martin Luther King Day, that's tough....

Thursday night would have been one of my Factoid nights, when I stayed late after work to sort through and compile information from the wires. You may have guessed from this I didn't have much of a love life ten years ago, either.

I enjoyed telling friends I worked with some of the most beautiful women in the world at CNN Headline News. At least physically they were - as some of the writers went on to be reporters and anchors in other cities. Of course, they never recommended to the bosses I join them....

So in 1995, I decided to give "honor to whom honor is due." I sent e-mail to two people in the Spanish-language side of CNN, praising their beauty. While one took it as a compliment, the other took it as sexual harassment and reported me. Some news viewers thrive on details -- and let's just say I provided that woman too many.

I returned from a cross-country 1995 vacation to be ordered into mandatory counseling sessions. I received plenty of lectures over eight hours about things which were wrong with me. And unlike some fundamentalist churches, I wasn't asked to leave an offering.

(I should note over the last few years at CNN Headline News, I admittedly had been burning out. My performance reviews were growing more negative, job ratings were weak, and advancement with that channel was no longer possible. But at least they'd added "Windows TV," so I could watch soccer matches at my computer.)

After the eight weeks of counseling ended, I decided to apply for other positions at CNN. I was a finalist to work at the legal show "Burden of Proof" - back when Greta Van Susteren was out to put O.J. Simpson away, instead of teenagers in Aruba.

But I was passed over there for someone with a law degree, and didn't have enough computer knowledge to work at the newly-developing CNN Interactive. I wasn't really into the Internet in 1995-96 - and was content to play backgammon at home with a real board and dice.

On President's Day weekend of 1996, I decided to try one more complimentary message to a female co-worker. I weighed it heavily in my mind, but decided to drive to work on a Saturday night and write it. Perhaps this woman would understand we were entering "Random Acts of Kindness Week." - even if this was premeditated.

I heard nothing from the woman for five days after sending the e-mail - but when I was called to a manager's office at the end of the shift on 22 Feb 96, the answer became clear. "I'm going to have to let you go," he said. That message was the last straw - proving silence can be as deadly as it is golden.

My low performance ratings didn't help my situation. In fact, one supervisor wrote of concern I actually might bring a gun to work one day and unload it on the staff. That person didn't realize I've never owned a gun - and have trouble even shooting basketballs straight.

The manager who broke the bad news had to go fetch my work case from my work space, perhaps fearing I'd cause a scene. After all, some journalists with breaking news simply can't keep it themselves for long....

The manager gave me about 30 minutes to clear out the restroom locker and print out anything vital. I resisted the temptation to send a farewell note on the computer to co-workers. I'd shown up quietly in November 1984, and I would leave the same way. If they wanted an exclusive interview, I was waiting at home.

From what I've been told, it took several days for the CNN Headline News staff to figure out why I was gone. A rush of departures followed in the next several months -- so either co-workers feared I was step one in a series of cutbacks, or more hanky-panky was going on there than I realized.

With a severance check and unemployment upcoming, my firing was the perfect time to take a vacation to see my family. I prepared apology letters at my brother's house, and mailed them to the offices of the three women I'd tried to compliment. That was met with silence, too -- not even autographed pictures for the autobiography.

None of the three beautiful women have contacted me since my termination, and I don't try to contact them anymore. The workplace is quite unlike professional wrestling -- and if you lose two out of three falls there, you don't earn a rematch the next weekend.

I've certainly learned my lessons from the final months at CNN Headline News. I no longer compliment women on their appearance unless they bring up the subject first. I channel my feelings about beauty in other directions now. And I don't dare plan out any random acts of kindness.

E-MAIL UPDATE:> Enough of the true confessions -- let's take a challenge to Tuesday's look at Columbus public safety pay:

I am somewhat dismayed by your several assertions that Columbus cannot afford to pay comparable salaries for police. Columbus/Muscogee certainly could. It's a matter of will.

I honestly believe that the reductions in force we have all haeard about are part and parcel of a greater long-term strategy by the politicians to get the good folks to finally vote out/remove the property tax freeze. Only upon pain of death will the voters give this up. So, mucho hurt must be inflicted to get the folks to act.

The oldest trick in the book is to cut safety (police & fire) to get the folks to accept higher taxation.

Anyway, there is more than enough wealth in the city to afford a fully funded police and fire force. With the coming expansion of Benning, the tax base will increase even further. It is tragically ironic that the good people of Columbus are willing to shell out tens of millions for a book warehouse, but nary a shekel more for protection.

It's always good to hear from a conspiracy theorist - and since Vice President Cheney took the blame for that hunting injury, we can't blame Democrats for that anymore.

Would Columbus city officials actually use public safety personnel in a scheme to end the property tax freeze? I don't recall any law officers making this accusation - and they would know a hostage situation better than anyone.

The rush to build new housing for new Fort Benning personnel actually could bring the city extra tax dollars. But I've heard some newcomers to the area say they commute from as far away as Auburn, because housing costs are lower there. Of course, summertime gas prices haven't kicked in yet....

It happens that Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Robertson went before Columbus Council Tuesday. He said it would be dangerous to cut the police and sheriff's department any further. Maybe Venezuela's President should quit calling President Bush "Mister Danger," and put that title on Isaiah Hugley.

Randy Robertson is concerned that deeper cuts in protective services will turn Columbus into "what progress has destroyed." [True/WTVM] Some people would say that's already happened - for instance, from cars causing global warming.

Later in the day, city and school officials came together to talk more about a proposed "split sales tax." There apparently was no finger-pointing this time about a lack of communication. So who gets the credit for passing around the list, to write down cell phone numbers?

A one-percent Muscogee County School sales tax is scheduled to expire in 2008. A one-percent city sales tax is due to die in 2009. So the two entities are trying to work together for a single tax extension vote - since a home run always beats a double.

A tax plan discussed Tuesday would change the way those two cents of sales tax money are divided. The city would get 1.5 cents, while the school district would get half-a-cent. That'll teach the school board for jumping the gun and approving this idea....

. A resolution on the split sales tax is being prepared, for a possible state constitutional amendment. But the Georgia General Assembly's session is past the halfway mark, and the resolution for this has to be unanimous. It's a good thing callers to WRCG's "TalkLine" aren't in elected office.

YOUR HIGHLY EXALTED LOCAL BLOG WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE: At last! Someone from Alabama showed up at the Winter Olympics Tuesday - and it wasn't Bo Bice signing autographs in the Olympic Village.

Alabama native and defending bobsled champion Vonetta Flowers wound up sixth in the two-women competition. She had a new partner in the sled from four years ago - and we hope they didn't have a long debate about who was going to drive.

Now let's pretend it's the tenth end of Olympic curling, and slide a few final Tuesday shot rocks past the hog line:

+ The Muscogee County School Board voted to begin a district-wide dress code next fall. Board member "Fife for Five" Whiteside voted against it, saying it's not his business to decide "how high heels should be." That's OK, sir - you can leave that to Mary Sue Polleys.

(A member of Downtown Elementary School's faculty told WRBL they've found on weekly "dress-down days" when children wear jeans, the number of discipline problems goes up. That's the problem with companies making "pre-washed" jeans -- they simply aren't stiff enough to keep youngsters in line.)

+ Opelika's City Council joined the crowd, by voting for a citywide smoking policy. Smoking will be banned in restaurants come May, as well as in a ten-foot area around doors. Of course, painting the ten-foot circles might make people sick from the fumes....

+ Atlanta-based Waffle House made a major change, announcing all restaurants will start accepting credit cards by the end of March. We'd like to take this opportunity to welcome this chain into the 1990's.

(A source tells your blog the Waffle House near Columbus Park Crossing is accepting credit cards now. Hopefully the staff knows what they are - and some smart-aleck cook doesn't use one to pick his teeth.)

+ Alabama's House voted to make the peach the official state fruit. Trouble is, the blackberry already is Alabama's official state fruit -- so the state would have TWO. Does Alabama really want a reputation as the fruitiest state in the country?

+ Instant Message to Russell County Constable Bob Schweiger: So tell me - what did you tell the Hurtsboro City Council Tuesday night about improving the police department? It apparently wasn't urgent enough to even get WRBL to come back to town.

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