DAY 1

Day 1:

It's mothers day. You know, champagne brunches, spring flowers, sappy hallmark cards about how glad you are that someone decided to give birth to you. And apparently muggings... yes, you read that correctly, muggings. What mother doesn't want that for mothers day?? Ok, let me backtrack because I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself.

The day started off pretty typical. I woke up, called my mom, and sat around wishing I was at home instead of stuck going into the station. I was tired, as I usually am Sunday mornings, because of a 3 am shooting on Saturday night; but it was nothing a little coffee couldn't fix.

1:30 pm, I get into work, sit down at the computer and await my fate. What kind of story will I be covering tonight? It turns out I'm the only photographer on duty. Our other Sunday night photog has the day off. Perfect. Hopefully nothing big happens, cause I'm not moving very fast today.

I'm told to head to the humane society to get some cover video of a dog for a segment we run every Sunday night. Not my favorite thing to do, but I'll take it. Maybe I'll run into something interesting while I'm over there. As I'm walking out the door my reporter runs after me. "Wait up!" she screams, "I'm coming too!" That's weird. The reporter never comes. I can't help but wonder what's going on.

Apparently her day is going just as good as mine is. Nothing is going on. All her mothers day stories have either been covered by the daysider, or are already falling through. She's hoping for something interesting at the Humane Society too. We get there and settle into the only room not covered with pet hair. Maybe they'll have a new doggie mom?

Idea denied. Nothing here. We head back to the shop deflated. I plop down in my chair knowing that the longer it takes us to find a story, the less time I'll have to work on it. I want to find something quick. That's when she tells me we are headed to Pueblo.

The car ride down is rather uneventful. The road is full of Sunday drivers going nowhere quick. I navigate around them and make it into town with impressive speed. We pull up to Tulane st. and climb out. God only knows what is waiting for us inside.

The door opens and we are welcomed into a dark living room that hasn't been decorated since 1970. A short italian woman with dark black bushy eyebrows starts yapping about how nervous she is for the interview... I'm just glad I have my set-up to focus on and I can leave my reporter to deal with her. We sit down. Lights, camera, action! And the story begins....

"I was bored. You know us old people, sometimes we just get bored. So I went to the store. To get a scratch ticket. And I'm standing out there re-checking to make sure that I hadn't won anything when I feel a tug. And the next thing I know this FAT girl is running away with my purse. And I'm surprised she got away, she was FAT. If a 79 year old woman can almost catch you, you know you need to loose weight"

Wait, what?? Seriously? Is this woman for real? "If you could say one thing to the woman," my reporter asks, "What would you say?" Pause. "I'd tell her to loose some weight!"

Ok, now I can't help but laugh. I want to feel bad, afterall, it is mothers day. Bud I just can't help but laugh. "So what did you do next?" Jeanette says.

"I chased after that fat girl. Got infront of her car so she couldn't drive away. And held on. When the car backed up I fell flat on my face. Too bad about that, I'd probably be happier if they just ran me over. When you get as old as I am you don't worry about your safety... just kill me now (laugh) this life's been long enough!"

Not quite sure how to react to that one. The interview continues... Next interesting response. "Thank god we still have the death penalty! They should just kill 'em all. I tell you, people these days just aren't good anymore. We need to get rid of them! Get rid of them all!"

Twenty minutes later the interview is over and I'm scrambling to leave. I guess nothing beats a mothers day mugging, or a 79 year old ball of fire! I'd like to say I'm shocked by her, but it's just another day on the job....

here is the story that actually aired:
http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x551456204/79-year-old-woman-mugged-in-broad-daylight