Why don't heroes ever claim their well-deserved title?
Sunday Soapbox. Musings of your neighborhood editor.
Heroic:
As is almost always the case, people who do heroic things don't call themselves "heroes." "Just doing my job," he or she says. The newspaper cynic in me makes me wonder if they really believe that or if it's said because that modesty is a clear-cut expectation.
So, of course, one of the two heroic police officers who likely saved the lives of two fellow officers on Oct. 16 when a gunman opened fire on them in Holiday Hills said something we've heard before, which we dutifully used as a front-page headline Friday: "You don't think of yourself as a hero. You are just happy that you (did) your job," Island Lake patrol officer Victoria Gwizdak told staff writer Madhu Krishnamurthy.
But this quote had a refreshing twist. Gwizdak, a single mom, didn't mind telling us how thrilled she was that 12-year-old daughter Jessica called her friends to say her mom had saved the day. "That made me feel good because that's what every mom wants to be," Gwizdak said, "a role model for their child."
This gives me gas:
Many years ago, a couple of newsroom executives had a penchant for "suggesting" stories on things they had seen while driving about the suburbs. Some people rolled their eyes when such an assignment came their way. But you know what: Just keeping your eyes open for interesting and usual things in your midst is not a bad way to look for news.
So, in that fine tradition, I just knew I was onto a hot story when I passed a station a few days ago offering gas at $2.99 a gallon. That was the first time I'd seen it for less than three bucks in eons. Prices south of that magic figure seemed like a significant landmark. Maybe this station was first.
Of course, I was wrong; Fox Valley Editor Mike Smith told me he'd gotten gas at a station in DuPage County for $2.92. And staff writer Susan Sarkauskas soon discovered the three-dollar line had been crossed just about everywhere in the 'burbs except Cook County. Still, it was a pretty good story, documenting all that, but the winds of fate and the arbitrariness of the oil companies, or whoever sets prices, conspired to throw another curveball my way. I always make a point of filling up when I see gas prices drop (yes, it's a bit of an obsession), but I was running late and vowed to stop in after work. But by the end of the day, the price had jumped back up to $3.25. Sheesh.
Life of the DuPage County Board:
A moment of silence for DuPage County Board member J.R. McBride, who died Friday after a long, long battle with cancer. He was only 47. He had been fighting a brain tumor longer than he served on the county board (since 2006). He missed some meetings because of his illness, but when he was on the job, he was all in. He was a friendly, gregarious and smart man, never using his illness as a crutch, his colleagues said. "He was the life of the county board," said Grant Eckhoff, who served with McBride in county board District 4. Added Chairman Dan Cronin: "J.R. had no patience for things that were not real - not genuine. He had no tolerance for hypocrisy or insincerity. He was a guy who was always devoted to doing the right thing, and he just made our lives and our jobs a little bit more fun."
jdavis@dailyherald.com