Reciprocate, once more -- with feeling

Maybe years of training as a journalist is to blame. My new profession is full of passionate and emotional people and sometimes I wonder if I'm acting sympathetic enough..or emoting enough.

It's silly really. Blame journalism. You are trained to ask questions and not pass judgement. You are trained to that conversations are for a purpose: gathering essential information. You know when you have "the quote," in an interview. Once you get that nugget you stop listening. You start formulating a way to seem sincere, but wrap up the conversation quickly.

Working in the world of social workers is different. Very different. And it is good.

It's good to stretch and maybe see that the world of newspapers is quirky and dysfunctional. You can't expect a group of people who work in constant stress and thrive on chaos to chit-chat about the weekend or what you did for your birthday. Exchanges are more like this:

Editor: What's your plan today?

Reporter: Checking some things out, doing a little research.

Editor: Make something happen by 10:30 a.m. I don't care what it is. Make it a front page story.

Probably in the rest of the world things don't always happen that way. In my new job, work exchanges include discussion about fears, validation, appreciation and positive reinforcement. I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with that, but I'm learning. And trying to reciprocate. Sometimes I just wonder if it sounds sincere...even when I mean it.