And now we know what I'd sound like describing the tornado that came through the trailer park

I happened to turn on the television around 7:30 this morning, hoping to catch the day's weather before leaving for work only to see my place of employment in the live report. There was a broken water main in front of the school this morning. Apparently, it was a slow news day here in ABQ because one local news stations was next to the burbling mess throughout their morning broadcast. The other two stations and a Spanish new station were there at noon.

Because the water was freezing and generally causing problems, through traffic was blocked off on the road in front of the school. I would have been able to drive past the road block and park in the staff parking lot but just as I was pulling up to the intersection, an older gentleman pulled up, got out of his car, and started chatting up the police officers. Instead, I went around to a back street, parking across from the school and on the same street as the news broadcast. As another teacher and I were walking up the street, I joked with the newscaster about jumping around in the back of her shot--"woo! we're your kids' teachers! woo!" She laughed and after confirming that I was, indeed, a teacher, asked if I would mind being interviewed.

And that is how I ended up on the local news this evening, describing the gushing water flow in front of the school. Paul asked if I managed to include the word "y'all" in my 5 second clip. Happily enough (but probably more surprisingly), there was not one use of that word and as I was able to avoid the use of the long I sound and most gerunds including the ever-popular "fixin'" while describing water, I didn't even sound too terribly hick/Texan. However, I could have used a bit more blush this morning and my coat makes my hair do this weird thing in the back that I didn't know about until I saw myself on TV.

My friend Devlyn left a message for me that her mother had called her when the report was airing at 5:00, letting me know she recorded my fleeting bit of fame. Paul and I caught it at 6:00 (and also recorded it because we're dorks like that). If it didn't have all kinds of identifiers about me (last name, school name) that I'm not willing to divulge to the blogging world, I'd share it here. But since it does, everyone here will just have to imagine the dorkiness that was my brief moment in the spotlight.

Thursday update: I had an email this morning from another friend who saw me on the news last night. Two teachers stopped me when I arrived at school to let me know they'd seen it. Another teacher recorded the bit and showed it this morning at our staff meeting. My five seconds has now stretched to 5 minutes of celebrity.