An unfinished story

Doctors and nurses, law enforcement officers, ambulance personnel, all kinds of social workers and lots of types of workers are not supposed to take their work home with them.

They're expected to do their job, keep a level head and not get emotionally caught up in the things they see and the problems of the people they work with when they're on duty. When they go off duty, they're supposed to leave the work at work and not take the worries home with them.

Easier said than done.

Newspaper people are also on that list. Sometimes we run into situations that are hard to leave behind. It's a job hazard.

Stories come and stories go. Things fly so fast, sometimes it's hard to remember which one of our stories was in the paper yesterday let alone last week. By the time everyone is reading the news about some event, the reporter is over it - the story is done and we've moved on to the next thing.

It's a daily grind and you just keep moving along. And then, out of the blue comes one of those stories that stops you in your tracks. Leave it behind? No, you just can't. Maybe you should but you don't really want to.

There's something about it that keeps popping back into your head.

On a quiet drive to the office, there it is again before I even get to the flasher light. And when I wake up for the middle of the night snack, there it is again before I've even got the milk on the frosted flakes.

These things that people take home are different for every person and it's impossible for another person to predict what will push a button for anyone else. It's never the thing you think it would be.

My week began with one of those stories popping up on my radar. The story is written, it's been in the paper, everyone has read it and they've moved on but it's still popping into my head. Actually it's the story behind the story behind the story... the stuff that's not in the paper - it hit too close to home.

There's only one thing to do about this -- since I can't just forget about it, I'm going to start digging a little deeper and write another story.

Anna Rochelle is a staff writer at the Greene County Daily World and can be reached by calling 812-847-4487 or by sending an email to indianarose@fastmail.us