When I was in third grade there was a lot of talk about
changing to a four-day school week where we would go to school for
about two more hours a day for the four days and then have Fridays
off. That hard hitting news motivated the local news to go and
interview kids to find out their opinion of the change. The third
grade teachers of Santaquin elementary were asked to supply a few
well behaved and erudite students to offer their opinions. In the
interview I gave all kinds of really good information about how I
thought that ten hours was too long for teachers and kids and that it
would be hard for the parents of latch-key kids to arrange for child
care on the Fridays off. I also made an offhanded joke about how it
would make us all miss Dennis the Menice and Duck-tales as they were
the cartoons that were on from three to four. I didn't even have a TV
so to me it was clearly a moot point but the reporter thought that it
was funny. The station called my mom and told he what time the piece
would air and that I would be featured in the news so we called all
of my aunts and uncles and told them and went over to my grandma's
house to watch it. It was the last story so we all had to sit through
an hour of news and I was super nervous waiting for how I would look
on TV. When the piece came on the talked to a principle a congressman
and a parrent and then It was my time to weigh in but the reporter
set up my soundbite as being funny by saying that the kids concerns
about the extra time in school was more about what we would miss on
TV. Then It cut to me saying my bit about the cartoons and nothing
else. The reporter chuckles about priorities and then turned it back
to the anchors who were giving it the knowing half chuckle of anchor
persons. I was mortified and enraged that I had been taken out of
context and that I was the punchline to their little news joke. My
uncles and aunts all called to congratulate and tease me about
missing my cartoons. I tried to explain to all of them it was a joke
and I said other good stuff but they didn't seem to care. I guess I
learned an important lesson about those vultures at KSL, I just hope
that didn’t count against my fifteen minutes or I will sue,
