OPINION: Happy 2nd birthday to The Jackson Post

My wife wouldn't let me this year - or last year for that matter.

But at some point, in addition to pumpkin pie and all other desserts on the table at our family's Thanksgiving gathering, we're going to have birthday cake.

It was two years ago on Thanksgiving (technically Nov. 24, 2022) when the first print edition of The Post was set to be in people's mailboxes.

In actuality, it was more like Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, but a couple hundred people on my Facebook friends list got them late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning and a few on Friday who'd responded to a post I made on Facebook that night, essentially saying I was making a couple of deliveries to the family of Beverly "Cookie" Collomp out toward the Crockett County line and then to Englewood Pastor Adam Dooley, and if anyone else wanted a copy hot off the press to let me know and send me their address.

I made that post about 6:30 that evening while sitting at Green Frog in Thomsen Farms. By the time I'd finished a piece of cheesecake and cup of coffee, I had an entire route that included Mercer, Beech Bluff, Spring Creek and even a few neighbors in Medina that I'd committed to delivering to.

I made as many as I could before I felt like I was about to unconsciously tap out about 3 on Thursday morning. I had about 20 remaining, and I messaged those that I'd get to them on Friday.

Thinking back over the last two years, there are a few things I'd like to do differently, but not many.

After years of being stuck in the mud of having to cater to expectations of corporate bean counters in another region of the state or even another time zone in another region of the country and then running a five-month experiment to see if I could do marketing and public relations, I've found that small-town journalism is what I'm suited for.

It's not always fun or easy, and that's OK.

Some days you're accepting a bunch of congratulatory comments for possibly the best thing you've ever written about your first experience flying, and then there are other days where you actually have to get into the plane and fly.

I remember specifically two elected officials who were among the loudest people letting people know about The Post and why all 100,000 citizens of Madison County needed to subscribe, jokingly saying to both that I hope they would say the same thing on the inevitable day when they wouldn't like what's in The Post that week.

That day came for both of them within about three weeks of each other a few months ago. Could I have handled both situations better? Probably. 

Do I actually regret how I handled them? Not really, and here's why. The reporting that was done had to be done. They were going to be angry about it one way or the other, so I had to hopefully figure out the best way to go about it.

I didn't apologize for it. I didn't back down from it. I did give both of them the opportunity to voice their disagreements/concerns with me, took a couple of personal shots from one of them and then went on to the next assignment.

That's how this works. Some people have a hard time dealing with it. I'd have a hard time dealing with the negative aspects of the jobs of a lot of people reading this column.

We're all wired differently, and I think it's part of God's plan for each of us. The person who is not where they should be - doing a job they're not wired for - is typically a person who doesn't enjoy life as much as they could or should.

As much as I love my bosses when I delved into marketing, I didn't enjoy doing the work they do nearly as much as they seem to. 

I do enjoy doing this. And as we pause this weekend on almost a macro-level to think about what we're grateful for, I'm grateful to Daniel Richardson for giving the opportunity for The Post to exist, each of you who read The Post, each of you who subscribe (my kids aren't eating for free yet) and each of you letting me know you enjoy TJP and how it can be better in Year 3.

I've got my own ideas, but I wouldn't mind hearing yours. Let me know at the e-mail at the end of this column.

Brandon Shields is the managing editor of The Jackson Post. Reach him through e-mail at brandon@jacksonpost.news. Follow him on X.com @JSEditorBrandon. Follow him on Instagram @EditorBrandon.