Corrections and a Case of the Hum Bugs

I come to you today as an editor with a hat in hand.

In the spirit of owning the error, I wanted to start this column off by admitting several misprints and errors I found after printing the Dec. 23 issue.

■ The picture of Shop with a Cop on A1 was supposed to reference the other pictures and information on page A10 but the page number was left blank.

■ Several errors were printed on the calendar on page A3 including listing Christmas Eve on Thursday and Christmas on Friday when they were actually on Friday and Saturday respectively.

■ Several of the jump boxes had the wrong word on the jump, although the pages numbers and references were listed correctly before the jump. Digital subscribers won’t have seen these issues because I changed them before putting the online edition (all the while grumbling and smacking my head).

We apologize for the errors any confusion that may have occurred.

If that list wasn’t enough of an indication, last week was tough. I was several hours after deadline in completing the paper and technical errors resulted in me having to do things in much longer ways.

This led to me being a bit grumpy as we started into the Christmas break.

With all of the busy schedules and events packed into December, I felt like the character in a cliché comedy who needed to be shown the true meaning of Christmas. (Yeah, Wyndi and I have been watching some family and Hallmark Christmas movies. I really felt like one of ‘those characters.’)

I was knocked out of that stupor while getting to spend time with Wyndi, my parents and my aunt and uncle, who traveled into town just to be with me and finally meet Wyndi. It was a great visit once I realized that wallowing in my own mistakes and stressing about things away from the family were keeping me at a distance.

I watched a couple of Christmas movies last week and two scenes resonated. In “Scrooge!”, the grumpy Ebenezer seems most affected and humbled when he finally accepts the invitation his nephew gives to him every Christmas. In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as George Bailey’s life is crumbling around him, he comes home and lashes out at his family, upsetting and alarming his crying children.

The first scene is a very happy one. The second is definitely not, but I was struck by how realistic it felt.

Bailey was ashamed of how he made his family felt but stress and worry led him to lash out at those closest to him. This is the danger of taking work and stress home with you too often.

We can occasionally find ourselves blind to the people to the family and friends in front of us if we’re too busy focused on a bad day at work or a stressful project that is upcoming. That can make us miss many moments that make life worth living.

As the new year approaches, I’m pledging to be more aware when I’m not in the moment, because the time with family, friends and neighbors is too precious to waste.

Paul Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@dublincitizen.com.