Hey all, my name is Judy. Yes, that's my real name. I feel safe in relating to you this very true experience of mine by simply leaving out my last name. To you, I'm simply Judy. Nothing more, nothing less. And again, this is a true story. Believe me. Let's start by me telling you a little about myself. I'm twenty-six years old and currently, and for that matter probably - for the rest of my adult career - a locally based television news reporter in a medium sized market in the mid-west. It's really very typical, long hours, running around with my news crew, covering virtually any type of story from crime to sports. The stories can be very boring or very exciting. I've gotten pretty good at it too. I can handle a camera if I need to. I know my audio stuff pretty well - lighting too. I can operate as a one woman show if I need to but most of the time I've got a person, a guy - a guy named Harry - he's the one who's assigned to me most of the time. He handles all the camera and audio stuff. With Harry all I have to do is read my own copy (that's without messing it up of course) - remembering to smile and of course - looking great.
And I must say, I do look great. I'm five-feet-eight inches tall, slender bodied, long legged and have a nice rack, if I do say so myself. I'm a thirty-five, a big B or small C, depending on my ego on any given day. I have very light skin with a few freckles sprinkled in just the right places. I have strawberry blonde hair that falls long, well past my shoulders when I'm not working but when I'm on camera I where it up - it looks more professional that way. Oh, and occasionally on camera, I where glasses, I put them on or take them off, adding effect in my delivery. It makes my audience look into my big, long-lashed green eyes. Okay, yes I'm a bit Irish - hell I'm all Irish. If I told you my last name you'd die. It's Irish to the hilt.
Anyway, being quite a bit Irish can occasionally get me into trouble and this is exactly what happened and why I'm relating this story to you.
We, Harry and I were nearing the end of a typical day, a rather dull day, July 3rd the day before the big holiday. We'd filed a live spot on "the dangers of fireworks and fire safety" for the 5:30 news show. For it we went live right in front of one of the larger firehouses in our small city. Harry did it all, Harry does it all - he drives the up-link truck, sets up the transmission equipment, sets up the camera and frames the shot. At the exact right time, he hands the microphone to me and when we receive our cue from the station - live we go. No fuck-ups allowed. It pretty pressurized.
Harry and I were wrapping up when I got a call on my cell phone - apparently our General Manager had come up with a great idea, at least that's what he thought. Our GM explained that even though he knew we'd had a hard day and were essentially finished for the day, that he wanted us to go into the firehouse and get some "one on one" interviews with the firemen. Get them to relate fire safety issues, get them to talk about their work over the big holiday - things like that. He said, "Everybody loves firemen. It'll be a great addition. We'll run it in the morning." He said, we could tape it - go on home - take the truck home with us. He suggested that Harry could drop me off at my place, pick me up in the morning and we'd cut the tape then. He said, he'd see us in the morning and to have a relaxing evening. Besides he added, "Those firemen are always cute, have a good time."
Have a good time. What an omen that turned out to be.
To tell you the truth, I just wasn't in the mood, it had been a very long day, it was hot, it was a holiday even - and I still had to work tomorrow. Crap. I just wasn't in the mood. But duty called, so I told Harry about the situation. No problem. Harry's a real trooper and I might add here, not bad looking himself. He's a big bo-hunk of a Canadian. About six-foot-two and one-ninety in the weight department. Harry's broad shouldered and pretty muscular but not too much so. They're okay, those big super muscled guys but I like what I'd refer to as a "nice normal cut." Harry has dark hair, a bit curly and he always seems to have this five o'clock shadow thing going on. I like that. I like Harry. Hell, I might have jumped his bones numerous times - as much as I've been around him the past couple of years - but he's married. Damn my luck. Hey, it's hard to meet guys with a work schedule like mine but - I'm no cry baby. Yeah, my life is pretty damn good. I'm just horny. I always need a guy. And don't have time to find one.
As Harry strapped on his battery belt preparing for the on camera interviews in the firehouse, I marched on in to introduce myself and see if the men in blue were even interested in making a few statements and answering a few questions. Not all people are these days but I figured they would be - they had to be relatively bored too. It was a very sleepy, hot summer holiday in the mid-west - how laid back could you get. I talked with the first fireman I ran into and he just happened to be the man in charge. He readily agreed to our plan and he began to assemble his men. He suggested that we get a full tour of the firehouse so we could pick the place that looked the best for the interviews on camera. Harry caught up with us completely outfitted for total news capturing and stated that he would definitely like a tour. Harry indicated that he really wanted a shot other than the typical shot that everyone usually sees - that's a fireman standing in front of a red fire engine. Cliche - out the wahzoo.