Breaking News on the Fourth of July

The sign for the Cyclone roller coaster! 

It's been a while since I've written anything, mainly because work has been really busy.

Not many people do this, but I worked on Fourth of July. Everyone at FOX keeps telling me that most people in the industry work on holidays. Those days are just normal news days in the grand scheme of things, so I decided to go to work.

I walked a little early, like usual. It was steaming hot outside. Right after I put my dinner in the small employee kitchen area, one of the assignment editors asked me if I wanted to go on an assignment. Of course, I said yes -- without knowing that I would be home at 1 a.m.

Yes. I could have either gone to a party with friends or go on an assignment. Both would end around the same time. I'll tell you, though, working on the holiday was worth it. Let me tell you everything that happened that day.

Joel Waldman, a reporter for FOX5, Joe the cameraman and I went to Coney Island to report on the Astro Tower -- ride an old ride that was going to be taken down because it was swaying. I ran between the 5 o'clock reporter and Joel, trying to find out information for Joel's story. Both of these reporters were doing the live shots at the top of their respective shows and Joel had to finish his story really
quickly.

There was a lot of mayhem because of the short amount of time before Joel's 6 o'clock live shot, which I will not get into since it is really confusing. All you need to know is that everything worked out, and then Joel was going to be doing a live shot again for the 10 o'clock news.

So, we had a few hours to kill. Joe, the cameraman and I walked around the amusement park and got hot dogs, watched the fireworks. It was fun, just killing time. When I got back from the bathroom, we had to leave. There was breaking news.

Joel during his live shot, via Twitter.

Two people died in a jet ski accident just down the road. At that point, a second truck and cameraman arrived (usually there are two cameramen for live shots in really busy areas because people act crazy when they see a reporter), so we all hopped in the trucks and went over.

It was amazing to see how quickly the crew reacted to the situation. Joel had to go on camera within minutes of getting there, and then need to find more information before going live again with an update. He Tweeted pictures and information while we were there, which he says is important to do.

Everything happened so fast, and then as if it was nothing we went back into the trucks to head to the station. It was a little before 11 p.m. and we were stuck in traffic. We only had to go down a few blocks, but it was bumper to bumper -- barely moving at times. Everyone from the amusement park was leaving because the fireworks were finished, and there wasn't a police officer at the intersection to direct traffic. Joe said it was the worst traffic he had ever been in.

I didn't mind though. It sucked but I was with people who I trust and hope that I can again in the future. It is sad when you realize that you love your job so much that you're willing to give up holidays. This is going to be my future in a couple of years. I know my friends and family aren't too happy about that, but I can't really avoid it until I'm more established and have good vacation days.