Anything for a Story

I am constantly amazed at the utter stupidity of TV news reporters and directors. This is never more evident than during hurricane prep, when every bright, young reporter is sent out to every possible landfall location to see how people are preparing, and then report on the damage as the storm passes. I love the kids who stand out in what is really just a typical rainstorm for us and say,"It's really starting to come down now. If you look over there (camera pans right) you can see some branches that have come off the trees already." Then the camera lands on a few palm fronds laying in the street.
Last night, channel nine, (which I only watch because that is where Tom Terry, the best meteorologist in the country works) sank to a new low. They did a story about two old bats with booze legs, leathery skin, and bleached blonde hair, who are staying put in their condo on the beach in Melbourne. (I swear neither one of them was my mother, although, she is an old bat and is staying put in her condo in Ormond Beach, but does not have bleached blonde hair. Or booze legs.) They stayed put during the last storm, they said, and this one would be no different. They cackled as they showed the reporter how they pressed their hands up against the sliding glass doors as they bowed in under the strain of the winds in Frances. "It was pretty scary", they said, "but we had fun." They showed the reporter the supply of steaks and wine, lots of wine, they had acquired for consumption during the storm. One wonders if they have a gas grill, or if they just light the charcoal right in the house.
Anyway, the anchors had to come on in the next segment and do a sort of discalimer. "We just want you folks to know that putting your hands on your sliding glass doors and trying to hold them in during the storm is not really a good idea." NO DUH.
Well, the winds ARE picking up here, but so far there are no branches down. I'll keep you posted.