Friday, February 01, 2008

Enjoy it. We do.


That's the marketing slogan of WTSP, our local CBS affiliate. I'm not 100% sure what "it" is exactly but there's actually a tradition here in Tampa Bay of our local media embracing the credo as a lifestyle choice and truly partying like rock stars. Names that come to mind immediately include Hugh Smith, Reginald Roundtree, Nancy Alexander, Chris Thomas and Bob Hite. This week, WFLA's Gayle Guyardo was either drunk (according to numerous complaints to WFLA management) or suffering from the flu (according to her) while covering the Gasparilla Parade. That's a picture of her, tears streaming down her face after being briefly yanked off the air and spoken to during the parade. Now, I didn't watch so I don't know. I've seen girls who were drunk who looked like that. I've also seen girls who were sick who looked like that. But honestly, since it's coverage of a parade featuring hundreds of drunk participants viewed by thousands of drunk spectators, who really cares? In fact, it appears that the only people involved who weren't drunk are the people who bothered to call in to complain. Maybe they were jealous? I know if I was wasting a perfectly good Saturday watching a parade on television without being inebriated I could see becoming bitter and vindictive enough to pick up the phone and kill someone else's buzz. But I'd rather look at the bright side of this situation. If she was drunk, she was actually being responsible and conscientous and doing us all a favor. After all, it's when these people are not on the air that they're a threat to our safety.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have a crush on Gayle Guyardo. ;)

Unknown said...

That is absolutely 100% correct.