Ego Blow

One of the most blatant blows to the ego in a news environment is when a manager walks past you as he or she is escorting a new reporter/anchor candidate around the newsroom.

The manager will introduce the candidate -- often a clean-cut, well-suited man or a finely figured gal with made-for-TV hair -- to the important people only, other on-air folks, executive producers, maybe some show producers, other management types.

But the guy in jeans with a gnarly crop and three days of facial hair just gets passed in even the tightest of corridors without receiving so much as eye contact from the manager who would otherwise ask how the national news editor is doing.

Perhaps in this specific case, the manager was aware of said editor's proclivity toward Asian gals and steered his candidate far and fast in another direction.

And case you're wondering, yes, I am the neglected national editor in this story.