Saturday afternoon, I was downtown celebrating St. Patrick's Day, like any good Irish-Catholic girl would do. I was with friends that included KXLY's Karina Shagren and Kalae Chock. While I get recognized less and less these days, hanging out with these other two TV gals attracted a small amount of attention. We were in a downtown restaurant when a young man started a conversation with Kalae, I'm sure complimenting her on her TV skills. This man named Tim then came over to me and Karina. He was complimenting Karina on her TV skills and saying how much he enjoyed Karina's weather forecasts. Then, he looked right at me and said, "You... you're not so personable!" My first instinct was to laugh - as he said he was just kidding. I knew he was not - and, I'm actually okay with that. As we discussed afterwards, weather people and morning anchors and sports guys are supposed to be personable on TV. That's why people like them. I've always been - and, wanted to be - a hard news reporter. Kalae pointed out, every time I'm on TV, I'm talking about federal indictments, Joseph Duncan and small children being abused by their foster parents. So, I guess maybe it's a compliment that this young man (who's a solidly-built guy, with a decidedly "tough guy" job) also told me when he sees me on TV, he feels like I could kick his butt!!!!

Don't get me wrong: Tim was a very nice guy. He's an obvious avid KXLY viewer and I hope he continues to be. We posed for a picture with them and talked about his job and his work for KXLY's Extreme Team. I guess I should appreciate that people at least watch enough to know who the three of us were - and, felt comfortable enough to talk to us for a few minutes. It's just always amazing to me what people will say just because they feel they know you from TV. When I worked in my first TV job in Tri-Cities, I was really excited one night because a woman recognized me. It was the first time it happened. She said to me, "Wow, you look a lot bigger on TV! Look at you: you're scrawny!" That woman managed to insult me in two very different ways in one sentence! She meant well, I'm sure. And, I'll take "not so personable" over looking like a hog on TV any day! But, I wonder if any other profession has to deal with this strange phenomenon as much as people who are on TV for a living.

I guess I just can't imagine approaching someone and telling them what I REALLY think about how they do their job. But, then again, I'm not so personable...