An Ode to Albert

Phones in a newsroom never stop ringing. Nine times out of ten, there's nothing on the other end you care about. Occasionally, it's worth the time you took to pick up the phone. Most of the time, though, it's very annoying and you have to use your reverse psychology skills to get the person on the other end of the line to stop talking. However, there is a fine line between what's annoying and what can be worth your time.

Albert is the prime example.

I can't really tell you anything about Albert. All I know is about a year ago he started calling our newsroom at least twice a day. He clearly has some sort of disability, because it can be difficult to understand him. He mainly asks about the weather.

Here's how an average conversation with Albert goes:

Me: LEX 18
Albert: Hello?
Me: Hi.
Albert: Is this Mary?
Me: No.
Albert: Katherine?
Me: No.
Albert: Jennifer?
Me: No. It's Jaimie.
Albert: Oh. How you doin today?
Me: Good, how are you Albert?
Albert: What's the 8 day outlook?

And so on...

Most of those names are producers (minus Mary who is a name one of our producers made up because she didn't want to tell him her name, but he still asks for Mary to this day )who are behind the scenes and pick up the phone more often than not because they stay in the newsroom. You know who he has connected to most recently because they are the person he will guess first. If you go too long not talking to Albert, he tends to forget you.

I am on TV. Albert watches the television. Which means one day when he guessed that it was Jaimie he said "oh you're the one with the hats" and I gained a new found love for Albert.

I have these unique, 20s style hats I wear during the winter that people seem to notice. That includes Albert. That means instead of asking about the 8 day forecast, he asks if he's going to see me on TV and if I'm going to wear my hat. I'll let him know either way and I can hear the smile on his voice through the phone.

Again, I don't know anything about Albert, but I can tell you with a lot of confidence that the phone calls he makes to the LEX 18 newsroom are probably the highlight of day, if not his life. The conversations only take 5 minutes and they make someone who probably has nothing else happy.

Too often people get annoyed and can even be mean to Albert because he does not speak clearly and comes off pretty slow. I don't understand it. Talking to Albert a few times a week makes my day because I know it's a moment he waits for.