Amendment by Christopher Day

Wrote a poem. It’s about America instead of court reporting. This is one of the rare times I’m going to use the blog for something like this. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to ensure it gets picked up by web search services like Google.

For the longest time we’ve faced division in the country. I believe this to be intentional on the part of the ultra rich. They control our media, our social platforms, our transportation, our electricity, our groceries. While we battle each other over silly differences or disagreements, we do not address the extraction of wealth from our country. This is very similar to the hatred of digital reporting in our field. While we wasted time decrying digitals as button pushers, we hardly noticed or cared that the corporations were setting up for our replacement and to create a market glut of reporters where our incomes would fall and their profits would rise.

People on very gradient of the political spectrum are being squeezed. I know this to be wrong. I do not know how it will be righted. But I know it must be.

Our country, the boldest.

Our country, for the free.

Our country, remarkable.

Our country, you and me.

——

Its wars, our struggle.

Its failures, our pains.

Its future, our future.

Its triumph, our brains.

——

A constitution neglected.

Not down and out yet.

Its laws infected,

by corporatist threat.

——

They care not for our country.

They care not for our lives.

They care not for their neighbors.

They come bearing knives.

——

Our country, our struggle.

My compatriots will see.

They’d gut us for dimes.

Our country, you and me.

Allison Hall — $20 to Sponsor a Student in Need

A large group of professional reporters came together one year ago under the leadership of court reporter Allison Hall to collect money for students in need. Together, these court reporters helped send a record-breaking number of stenographic students to the NCRA convention and continue to supply newcomers to our profession with all sorts of assistance, including donating stenotypes and tuition assistance. It’s a joy for me to be a part of the group and signal boost it at every opportunity. I have written about, theoretically, how easily court reporters can eclipse the spending of just about any entity in our industry. Allison pretty much kicks my ass by taking that from theory and turning it into cold, hard reality. Fewer than 400 reporters raised over $31,500 for students, an average donation of about $84. To get another solid year of funding, Allison’s asking for less than a third of that.

1,300 people in the group. If everyone had $20 to spare, $26,000 would be available for students.

In a single day after Allison’s call for funding, the group collected over $3,000 toward supporting students. If you want to become a part of breaking down the financial barriers that stop students from getting into our field and living their dreams, reach out to Allison today or donate via the means listed below:

Venmo: Allison-Hall-89

PayPal: allie441@gmail.com

Google Pay: allie441@gmail.com.

Make sure to put PAYING IT FORWARD in the payment note so that that money goes where it should. Even if you don’t have the money today, sharing this with your fellow reporters is a great way to support a better and brighter tomorrow for our students.

A big thank you to Allison Hall, Traci Mertens, Sandy Rodrigue Narup, and every donor that made this possible!

The Disappointment Paradigm

There’s something important that every student and new reporter should know before they hit the working world. In life, and especially working life, you’ll be encouraged to be a pleaser. People will ask for tighter deadlines with no additional pay. People will ask for favors that will go forever unreturned. There will be great pressure on some of you externally and internally to be a certain way, do a certain thing, or agree when you’d rather not.

The very unfortunate truth is that you can be all the people and do all the things expected of you. You can get on that hamster wheel of expectation and run until tired. And when you are tired, there is no gold medal or ebb. There is disappointment. The same people that lifted you up when you were doing them a favor will hate you. The same people that told you what a wonderful job you were doing when you were doing a job for them will talk about you behind your back. Those same people who were urging you to speak out and be a part of the conversation will seek to silence you.

Can you stop the disappointment paradigm? I don’t think so. But remember that you are always in full control of your train. You can balance the demands placed on you. The favors you do for people should be done either without expectation or with expectations made clear. You can be a good person and still set boundaries. In fact, I’ve found that you need to set boundaries or you lose the ability to be a good person. You lose your humanity altogether and get treated like furniture. Your favors are there, and “appreciated,” like a fine rug.

So set boundaries. Be willing to help those in need. But also be willing to say no. So many of us suffered so much from being unable to say no that by the time we learned to say no, it became all we could say. Being an altruist requires you to be strong and give yourself recharge time to help others. Being a hard worker requires much of the same so that you can continue to do great work. Listen to your body and mind, give yourself time to recharge, because chances are pretty high that there’ll be work to do and people to save tomorrow. The day you give yourself won’t mean very much to anyone else, even if they go on about how disappointed they are, but it’ll mean the world to you.