sharia24's Blog

Tim – Truly Inspiring Man.

 

While working at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington D.C., I met a great deal of journalists, but I never thought I would one day end up calling Tim Russert my boss.

 

Still in school, I remember how I applied for a desk assistant position at NBC Network in DC.  During my interview – that’s when I met Tim Russert for the very first time.

 

At first I was afraid to talk to him, but when I introduced myself and told him I was from Cleveland, he treated me as if I was already a part of the NBC family. 

 

After I graduated from college, NBC called and asked me when I wanted to start the job – and of course “immediately” was my answer.

 

On my first day I was told “You never want to mess with Tim!  If the President or any politician calls – you find him no matter where he is or what he’s doing.”

 

I remember one day Vice President Dick Cheney called looking for Tim.  There was no one in the newsroom that night except for me and the assignment desk manager – who left his desk to take a quick break.

 

When I picked up the phone and spoke to the Vice President I knew exactly what I had to do.

 

First I had to get a number from Mr. Cheney just in case we got disconnected.

 

With my palms sweaty, I carefully put Mr. Cheney on hold and paged Tim on his pager right away.  After I hung up the phone, I called Tim’s house, and his cell number.  When he finally picked up the phone I stopped panicking and knew God had answered my prayers.

 

I told Tim with a nervous pitch in my voice, the Vice President was on the phone and he wanted to speak with him.

 

I thought he was going to yell, but instead I remember Tim saying to me “Ok slow down, it’s ok you’re doing fine.”

 

Since then I knew if I continued to work hard, then I will always be on Tim Russert’s good side.

 

I kept my job for almost two years, but working at Network wasn’t always easy.  There were some days I dropped the ball.  I even remember when I got blamed for making Andrea Mitchell do a ten minute live shot right before the president spoke.  And that huge mistake not only cost NBC a lot of money, but also a column in the Washington Post.

 

But many people I worked with dropped the ball too, but for some reason, some of them were let go – but I managed to stay.

 

Every now and then when I saw Tim, he would always speak.  He was a huge Buffalo Bills fan, and since one of my friends played for the team, we would always talk about football.

 

When my 18 month program was coming to an end I started looking for another job right away, since most desk assistants were let go after the program ended.

 

But when I found my next job, I was asked to stay at NBC and work the overnight desk for two nights a week.

 

I was told the job was extremely hard, but obviously Tim had the last word.

 

I ended up working 7 days a week: 5 days at ABC7, and 2 days at Network for three months until I landed my first reporting job in Hagerstown, MD.

 

When I told Tim the good news, I remember him saying “I always knew you could do it, keep up the good work.”

 

Watching Tim for years I learned a lot from him.  One thing I especially learned, if you work hard and do your best it will pay off.

One thing about blogs - I feel they have to be very interesting to read.  For the past few weeks I really didn't have anything to talk about.  Jeremiah Wright is quiet - even though I did watch one of his sermons on cable.  This is 2008 boys and girls pay for dates these days (wow I must be getting old) .  I'm mad at Barack Obama for reasons I really don't want to discuss - Just ask Rev. Al Sharpton.  And the Sandusky troopers got fired.  Oh well.  Not a very interesting month.  Maybe next week I'll talk about gas prices and how I think I'm going to start riding my bike to work.  HEHEHHEHEHE.. boy I crack myself up.

Why do I pick interesting/controversial topics to talk about?  Oh yeah I know why so you guys will read them.

 

Recently I’ve been thinking about the two troopers that are now going to lose their jobs for pulling a KKK prank.

 

For those that have no clue what I’m talking about, back in April one trooper dressed up in a KKK-like garb, and the other trooper took a picture of the clown with a camera phone.  Now the two were on duty at the Sandusky post the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  If you’re wondering why I called the trooper a clown well according to Webster Dictionary a clown is a person who habitually jokes and plays the buffoon.

 

Well I don’t think the buffoon had any idea what he was doing.  I don’t think the two actually thought this prank will end thier career either 

 

I also don’t think the two should have been terminated for fooling around.  Ok yeah so one put the costume on, but that doesn’t make him prejudice against the black race or Jewish people.

 

I feel what companies really need to look into – are those who actually don’t wear the costume.

 

I mean what’s the difference between someone wearing a KKK costume at work and someone hiding their costume in their back pocket? To me I think it’s the same.

 

What do you think?

Ok, maybe you guys can help me out here.  I recently just had a very interesting conversation with my Aunt on dating.

Ok here's a short skit... to explain where I'm coming from.

(Picture me back in high school 17 years old)

Location - After church...

Barry White:        Um hey Sharia, how are you doing?

Sharia:                 I'm fine Barry how are you doing (nervous giggle)

Barry White:        Um Sharia, I was wondering if I could take you to  my prom?

Sharia:                 Me really?  Sure I'd love to go.  What school do you go to?

Barry White:         Toledo High, what school do you go to?

Sharia:                 Maumee Tech

Barry White:         Ok I'll call you and keep you posted.

Sharia:                 (nervous giggle) ok bye Barry.

(So after I said yes, Barry saves up his money for two tickets, a limo and a corsage)

Location - After Church 4 weeks later.

Sharia:                 Hey Barry, how are you doing?

Barry White:         I'm fine Sharia how are you doing?

Sharia:                  I'm good.  Hey I have a question for you.

Barry White:          Cool, go for it.

Sharia:                   Well I was wondering if I could take you to my prom at Maumee Tech.

Barry White:           Sure

Sharia:                    Cool, thank you. 

Barry White:            (starts to sing) Darling I can't get enough of your love baby.

(3 days go buy)

Location:   Inside my house on the phone

Barry White:              Hello

Sharia:                       Hey Barry it's me Sharia

Barry White:               Oh hey girl how are you?

Sharia:                        I'm fine thank you, hey I was wondering if you could pay for your ticket and the cost to ride in a limo is 90 dollars a person.  You think you can take care of that for my prom?

Barry White:                Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sharia:                         Ok you can give me the money tomorrow.

Barry White:                 Uhhhhhhhhhhh

Sharia:                          Ok bye!!!

--------------------------------------------

Now back to reality, I hope you enjoyed that quick skit.. But here's my question - Was I wrong for asking Barry to pay for his ticket and the limo?

Please let me know..

Thanks.

After spending 30 minutes on deciding what I should write about this week- I came up with the following topics:

A Pregnant Man, Judge Judy, Bill Cosby, Left Lane Drivers and Band Camp.

But none of those topics really got me going, so I've decided to write about a very interesting e-mail Money Mike a.k.a Mike Morrison sent me.

If you haven't seen it yet, go to http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=840d3b2c
-9379-4649-85d0-445d4dc1fbde

There you will find an elephant painting a self portrait.

At first I couldn't believe my eyes.  I thought it was a hoax.  I thought someone actually put on an elephant costume and started drawing. 

But it was actually the elephant.  And all I could think of was wow.  God is so powerful. 

Check it out if you get a chance. 

 

OK--this is just a topic for discussion.  I am not trying to make anyone feel irate or annoyed.  But recently I wanted to share what I think about black churches.

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I attended a black church that helped me strengthen my Christian faith and belief

In Washington D.C., where I attended college – I visited a number of black churches where they spoke about the division between blacks and whites, and the oppression that we, as blacks, face.

Did I look at those pastors as being racist?  NO.  Actually I viewed them as motivators – inspiring me and the African-American race to continue to strive and fight even when hardships get in the way.

Now I am by no means racist, but I did grow up in an environment where I have seen injustice based off the color of my skin. 

While it’s a fact that slavery ended more than 100 years ago, there are people out there that wish slavery still existed.

When the news broke about retired pastor Jeremiah Wright basing his sermons on messages that spoke against the United States – I don’t think his words were to offend whites – but to motivate blacks to continue to persevere.

I have to say if I was taught in a closed box that the world was perfect – I would have no reasons to believe in God.  

I have been called racial slurs plenty of times.  I was told I would never grow up to be anything.  I’ve also witnessed my father get assaulted by two white police officers because he fit the description of some guy police were looking for.

These are things you are never able to forget, that become a part of you.  But being told by the black community that those injustices are still out, and finding some common ground together, helped me develop into who I am today.

I haven’t decided who I’m voting for yet, but to hear Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh say Obama is a radical and could never be president if he supports Wright is absolutely ludicrous.

Most of today’s preaching, teaches us, about Jesus – and in the bible His life was not a cake walk.  Jesus took on the established leaders of that time, inspiring the neglected and abused, and was ultimately crucified for his opposition. For Beck and Limbaugh to say it’s bad for preachers to preach to us about the injustices in the world makes it sound as though Jesus had the wrong idea when he was preaching.

And as the great Frederick Douglass said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

People please help me out.. I'm not a blogger, so this is quite new to me.  Why did I pick Sharia24? No it doesn't mean I'm NBC24's number one fan. Sharia24 is a username I've been using since I was 24.  There's just too many passwords and usernames and I can't keep up, if I would have known my username will be seen by the world I would have picked another one.  So tell me guys what am I suppose to write?