A sad day

Subject: A sad day
From: The Dane
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:43 AM

Hello everyone

At this moment i'm sitting at my desk at work, a national news paper in Denmark, while the board of directors are having a meeting upstair about whether or not to close the paper. Teh atmosphere is very bad. Everything looks like we're all gonna be out of a job at the end of the day...

That's about 75 reporters who are gonna be made redundant in a couple of hours. A sad day for all of here at the Danish daily, Aktuelt!

Guess who will be picking up his guitar tonight and play the blues?

I wish you all a very nice day!

Jacob

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:47 AM

Oh, Jacob, I am so sorry! Is there any possibility that they will decide to keep it open? 75 reporters makes it sound like a pretty important and large newspaper; a major blow to a lot of people as well as the reading public.

I wish you all the best in a tough situation.

kat

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: sledge
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:48 AM

I'm sorry to hear that mate, we are also having to deal with possibilty of job losses out here, hardly makes for a good day.

Cheers

Stuart

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: ORDINARY MAN (Peter Hames)^^
From: InOBU
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:54 AM

With permisson of all, I repost these lyrics, posted by a fellow mudcatter eariler, it was the first thing that cme to mind. One day we will, in the words of James Connolly, rise again, as empowered UNION workers, and fire the bosses!
In One Big Union - Larry

ORDINARY MAN
(Peter Hames)

Am G Am Em
I'm an ordinary man, nothin' special, nothin' grand,
F G Am
I've had to work for everything I own.
Am G Am Em
Well I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got,
F G Am
Enough to keep my family and my home.
F G C Am
Now they say that times are hard and they've handed me my cards,
Am E
They say there's not the work to go around.
Am G Am Em
When the whistle blows the gates will finally close,
F G Am
Tonight they're going to shut this factory down,
G Am G Am
Then they'll tear it down.

I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay
For 20 years I served them best I could.
With a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget
Loyalty through the bad times and through good.
The owner says he's sad to see things have got so bad
But the Captains of Industry won't let him loose,
He still drives a car and smokes a cigar
And still he takes his family on a cruise.
He'll never lose.

Now it seems to me to be such a cruel irony,
He's richer now than he ever was before.
Now my cheque is spent and I can't afford the rent,
There's one law for the rich, one for the poor.
Every day I've tried to salvage some of my pride,
To find some work so's I might pay my way.
But everywhere I go the answer is always no,
There's no work for anyone here today.
No work today.

And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man,
Like thousands beside me in the queue.
I watch my darlin' wife tryin' to make the best of life,
God knows what the kids are going to do.
Now that we are faced with this human waste,
A generation cast aside
For as long as I live I never will forgive,
You've stripped me of my dignity and pride.
You've stripped me bare.^^

Line Breaks <br> added.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Megan L
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 10:13 AM

Jacob may you have heard some good news by now.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 10:14 AM

That's a real pain! I hope they manage to turn it around & decide not to close down.
However, if they do close then then the only bit of comfort I can provide is to tell you that everyone (without exception) that I know who has been made redundant has subsequently found another job that they like equally or better. Sometimes it is an opportunity for a radical change. You can afford to take more chances when you've got less to lose. I went to university (mature student!)for three years after losing a job - it was something I didn't think of doing until then because I'd have never felt able to leave a good job in order to be a student (finances & family comittments).
So whilst it is sad to lose a job, it can free you to do something you'd really love to do
Doesn't mean you have to like it right now though - so you've got my sympathies.....
(play those blues with feeling....)
Kris

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: The Dane
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 10:15 AM

Thanks all of you.

It's nice to be able to come in here and get a kind word and a bit of moral support. Nive song by the way, I think I'll give it a go tonight... if I can somehow get hold of the melody..?!

The best to all of you,

Jacob

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: The Dane
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 10:18 AM

And no, Megan, no news yet, but I'll keep you posted

Jacob

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: The Dane
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:33 PM

Hi again

The board meeting has ended. The message is: Game over.

130 years of Danish news paper history is over! We're closed.

Jacob

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Amergin
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:35 PM

Sorry to hear that.....

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Morticia
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:37 PM

That's rotten Jakob, I'm so sorry. Hope you get something else soon.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Ferrara
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:44 PM

130 years! It's like tearing down a historic building. So sorry, and I do hope you will eventually manage to put something new and fine in its place.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: jeffp
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:46 PM

So sorry to hear that, Jacob. Hope you land on your feet, and soon.

jeffp

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Hawker
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:47 PM

Sad news indeed, thinking of you
Lucy

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 01:48 PM

Just logged on.........Very sorry, both for you Jacob, and for the loss of such an old establishment.

Spaw

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 02:18 PM

I couldn't find it in English, but here is a link to the paper, for those who can read Danish: AKTUELT.

Jacob, does "akteult" mean "dialogue?"

I am sorry to hear of the final decision, for both you and the institution.

kat

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: SINSULL
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 02:32 PM

Jacob,
I am sorry. Take a deep breath and give yourself a day or two to regroup. Then it is time to figure out what you do next.In a year you will be able to look back and see the good that will have come from this.
Mary

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Noreen
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 02:50 PM

It doesn't help much, I know, but I'm sorry for your trouble, Jacob.

Tell us more about it when you can?

Noreen

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Amos
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 03:01 PM

Does this mean the city gets ruled by EkstraBladet? This is ORFUL!! No possible avenues for the staff to buy the business and resurrect it?

A

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: gnu
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 03:11 PM

Never easy. I've been through half a dozen career changes, but all were of my own accord. However, with the last one, I wanted to stay until retirement but I could see the writing on the wall and got out before the axe fell so I sympathize with you.

Good luck and keep your chin up no matter what happens.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Alice
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 03:19 PM

Sad news, Jacob. I wish you good luck in the next step in your future.
Alice

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: LR Mole
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 03:42 PM

Hang in, buddy. Almost time for Easter beer over there, anyway. Have faith: doors close, windows open.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 05:32 PM

Hard for the workers involved, and I hope that you'll find ways in which it works out all right for you.

But for the community the loss of a great paper is devastating. It's no different really from what the Taliban did to those giant Buddhas. Cultural vandalism. The people who do things like that deserve to be spat at in the streets.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 08:36 PM

Jacob,

I'm so sorry about your situation. I hope you are able to find something you like as well or better soon. Good luck and best wishes.

Carol

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:36 PM

After 130 years, what on earth is their justification? No news in Denmark???

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Peg
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 01:10 AM

So sorry to hear that Jacob; especially that the paper had such a long history; that hurts in more ways than one. And so many people at a fell swoop!

I got laid off at Christmas but was VERY lucky to get five months' severance pay and medical insurance. I hope you will be able to take some time and see what you want to do now. Sometimes losing one's job is a very freeing and wonderful thing; since quitting a job is so much harder for someone to do, having it done for you can be very freeing!

Have a drink to the paper's memory, to your colleagues' good health, and move onward! We are more, in this life, than our jobs...

Peg

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: wdyat12
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 02:21 AM

Dane,

If its anymore consolation we're in the same boat in Bath, Maine. The big headline in the Portland Press Herald today reads:

"BIW owner sees danger on job front

Unless orders increase for Navy vessels, shipyards will suffer, a Senate subcommittee is told."

We are all holding our breath here because two ships a year can't sustain two yards and guess who is from Mississippi? You guessed it, Trent Lott. Litton Industries in Pascagula Missippi is the home of our rival shipyard for Navy contracts.

We will survive and you will too!

wdyat12

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: wdyat12
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 02:33 AM

Why can't I spell that?

wdyat12

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Mark Clark
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 02:37 AM

Jacob, I know something of the tradition of an old established newspaper. My father and uncle were both editors at the Des Moines Register & Tribune, a great paper with many Pulitzer prizes to its credit. It broke our hearts when Gannett bought out Cowles (similar in effect to killing the paper).

I'm sure you'll have no trouble landing a new position but the Aktuelt will be hard to forget.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:13 AM

Sorry Jacob - hard to believe now but it WILL get better. I have been made redundant twice now and each time I have gone onto better things. Neither company I was with were closed down though I have never had to cope with the sadness of seeing an instituation disappear along with my job.

Any chance of you and your fellows getting together to fill the hole in the market left by the loss of the newspaper? Is there any single marketable item that your team could provide on a profitable basis? See what I am getting at?

Cheers and best of luck

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: wdyat12
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:25 AM

You guys aren't planning on the "Full Monty" yet are you? Some of us are.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Kernow John
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:32 AM

Dane
I can't express it like some but know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
KJ

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: KingBrilliant
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 04:41 AM

Best of luck, mate.
Kris

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: GUEST,PaulineL
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 06:15 AM

As someone famous once said, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." So many people are deprived when a great newspaper shuts down. I really feel for you, and I hope you have good fortune soon. I also hope you take some comfort in the sympathy and good wishes of so many Mudcatters.

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Art Thieme
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 09:49 PM

Sadly, as I age it becomes more and more apparent to me that so very much of life involves loss. Look to tomorrow. Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: wdyat12
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 11:47 PM

Dane,

You will survive! You are obviously a talented writer to be hired by Aktuelt. You have a computer and you are connected to the rest of the world through the Internet. Freelance for a while until you land another site.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: Amergin
Date: 07 Apr 01 - 02:57 AM

True, Art, so much of life does involve loss....but so much of it also involves gain....or at least that's what I keep telling myself...

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: John J
Date: 07 Apr 01 - 05:23 AM

What a bummer. No matter how bad things seem right now, you will survive, and be stronger for it. I know that you can't see that at the moment. I really wish you the best of luck in your future employment. John

Subject: RE: A sad day
From: GUEST,Sam Pirt
Date: 07 Apr 01 - 07:26 AM

I am so sorry to hear it.

Pick up your guitar and play, you'll feel a whole lot better.

Cheers, Sam

"There's another train, there always is. Maybe the next one's yours" (Poozies, Chantoozies, Another Train)