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Sometimes Generic Just Won’t Cut It

A race week reminder that we can’t do it alone

Impressive students…they are out there, and they are thinking of others….

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Sometimes generic just won’t cut it. 

For instance, a News Channel 11 viewer from Southwest Virginia recently told me no other mayonnaise will do in her household.  It’s Hellmann’s, hands down.

In a survey of the WJHL newsroom Good Friday afternoon, (yes, when the NCAA tournament was hogging all of our air time, and I wasn’t busy watching because WVU played the night before) I found there’s at least one thing most of us won’t compromise on just to save money. 

That comes with one exception.  One manager said, “I’m the cheapest man in the world. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t buy the generic of....” I should’ve asked his wife.

StarKist Tuna is the only way to go for one of our reporters.  Anything else must be too fishy.

One producer gave me a list as long as her arm.  There’s no skimping on everything from mayo to soup.  Her “must haves” include Kraft Mayonnaise, Heinz Ketchup, A1 Steak Sauce, StarKist Tuna, Cap’n Crunch Cereal, Tyson frozen chicken, Diet Coke, and Campbell’s Soup. 

The tuna of choice for another producer?  StarKist.  But, that’s not all.  She prefers Pepsi and Pepsi only.  You won’t be disappointed if you ask to use her wash room either.  She runs a “Charmin only” household.  NILLA wafers and only name brand cereals are in her pantry.

There must be something about that popular breakfast food.  Another reporter told me “Any kind of generic cereal is banned from (his) diet!!”

My best friend once made fun of me during our college days when I bought something that was named like “buttery butter”.  It was so ridiculous, and cheap, I can’t remember the name.  I’ve opted for fewer generic items these days partly because I’m only slightly as poor as I once was.  But, I’m a big fan of Miracle Whip.  And, Kool-Aid can’t be replaced with anything else.  I could think of more, but you get the idea.

So, all of that to get to this:  HAVE YOUR NAME BRAND KITCHEN STAPLES CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?  I hear Hellmann’s isn’t the same as it used to be in color, texture and taste.  I haven’t noticed a difference in Miracle Whip over the last two decades or so.  And, my newsroom friends say their favorite products are the same, too.  Tell me about your “must haves”, and reflect a little on what it used to be and what it is now.

Posted by Selena Wiles

By Debra McCown, Bristol Herald Courier

This weekend, I did two noteworthy things. I received congratulations for winning Virginia Press Association awards; I also spent some early-morning hours rolling newspapers and helping deliver them to the campgrounds around Bristol Motor Speedway.

With all the fans in town during race week, newspaper circulation jumps, and it means a lot more people get involved in distributing the paper. It’s a week of excitement and exhaustion. It also gives those of us in the newsroom an opportunity to see all the things that must happen to get out the news.

As we celebrate the many awards announced this weekend, won by the folks in the newsroom, I think it’s also important to recognize the other people who helped to get us there. If it weren’t for them, there would be no Bristol Herald Courier and there would be no awards.

Late at night, after most of the reporters have gone to sleep, there are folks working down at the production plant on Highway 394, where thousands of newspapers roll off the press each night. They go to the newspaper carriers, who roll and deliver them in the wee hours of the morning.

For example, there’s somebody out there driving newspapers from Blountville, Tenn., to Grundy, Va.—a distance of more than 100 miles—every morning.

When you shiver in your pajamas as you walk out to get your newspaper, it means someone has been out in the frigid pre-dawn hours to put it there.

And then there are the other full-time activities that are necessary for the running of a newspaper. Someone has to sell the advertising that pays our salaries. Someone has to sell newspapers. Someone has to answer the phone and handle customer service calls. Someone has to run this Web site.

For every reporter whose byline appears on the front page, there are dozens of other folks working behind the scenes, and their jobs are just as important as ours.

I had just a small taste of their efforts in the wee hours this weekend—and they were still a step ahead. On both of the nights I helped roll papers, my newspaper actually arrived at my home in Abingdon before I did.

Posted by Christine Riser

If you’re wondering where they are, I can tell you about one place…

It was a week ago tonight, about this time, that I was sharing dinner with a younger crowd.  Yes, they thought they just might like to share an hour or two with me.  I’m talking about high school juniors and seniors. 
Surprised?  Yes, me too.  It’s been a decade, (okay, a little more), since I was in their shoes thinking just of myself, I’m sure.  But, not these kids.  Chris Holley, Amanda Stanley, Logan White and Brandi Cole are Health Occupation Students of America at David Crockett High School in Washington County, TN. 
How did I get to know them?  Through the Autism Walk they helped spearhead in February.  That was the first sign I was dealing with kids who are thinking more about how to help the world around them than they are of themselves.  I followed the progression of the planning of their walk.  They made more than one appearance on News Channel 11 trying to get YOU, our viewers, to think more about the struggle of others. 
After weeks of coverage of the planning and the event itself, which brought in more than 25 hundred dollars for Autismspeaks.org, I got an invitiation.  Selena, please come to dinner with us.  We want to thank you.  Thank me?  We should be thanking these kids for a lesson in generosity.  So, it was dinner at Cheddars and a gift card. 
Five years covering events in the Tri-Cites, involving children and adults, and a thank you comes from an unlikely source.  It is unexpected.  I’m just doing my job.  I love it.  But, it’s not one you do for thanks.  Doing the right thing doesn’t mean doing it for thanks.  I tried to explain that to them.  It was thrown right back in my face.  “We’re not thanking you to get something in return,” they said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
I tried to spend the evening picking their brains.  What do you want to do?  Where are you going to school?  You know, asking quesitons like reporters do.  Guess where the conversation led?  “Selena, how can we do something to thank our teacher, Mrs. Lori Grabner?” Yes, it truly was an evening of thinking of others. 
At News Channel 11, we have not run our Educator of the Week segment this school year.  But, I can pass the message on here.
Mrs. Grabner, your students appreciate you so much they’re willing to spend part of their evening speaking of your greatness and your dedication to students.  They’ve been worried about your health.  They credit you for helping them hold it together as they stressed out over their Autism Walk, the first of it’s kind in our region.  They think you deserve more respect than you get.  And, they want it said out loud. 
Mrs. Grabner, you are clearly one of the adults who have guided these impressive students, these young adults, down the right path.  Lucky for me I was able to cross paths with them, too. 

Posted by Selena Wiles