Battle of the Holiday Parties

It was a rare but welcome sight: smiles and genuine
cheer on the faces of those stuck in the
News-Press trenches. That’s what happened last night,
Thursday, December 7, when a gaggle of courageous N-P
newsroom employees past and present converged at El Paseo to party
down at The Independent’s annual holiday
shabang. For the first time in months, these reporters and
editors were sporting grins and having a great time, dancing to
’80s hits, drinking El Paseo’s finest, and hamming it up with
Indy staffers, who were once sworn crosstown
enemies, at least in the days when the daily was a
functioning paper and rivalry was ripe. It’s a twisted world these
days, though, so backward in fact that we Indy folks were
treated to many heartfelt thanks from the
N-P newsroom crew, as they slapped our backs for
continuing to cover the De la Guerra meltdown. Luckily for us at
The Indy, we could respond with the simple, “We’re
just doing our jobs.” Sadly, the News-Pressers
are just trying to do the same, but keep getting thwarted by their
wacky owner and her crew of legal attack dogs (who, by the way, are
making lawyers laugh loudly from New York to Los Angeles with their
off-the-wall, roundly baseless litigation).

One such pitfall of being a News-Press
employee these days is that the holiday party is now off-limits fo
anyone other than their live-in
partners.
Earlier today on the comments of this blog, a reader wrote
the
following letter to Dr. Laura, asking for what to
do
in the event of a fiancee who doesn’t live with her
man.

One such pitfall of being a
News-Press employee these
days is that the holiday party is now off-limits fo anyone other
than their live-in partners. Yes, it seems that
the paranoia and oddity has slipped down to the
newspaper’s seasonal festivities, as addresses and identification
will be checked at the door of El Paseo next Thursday, when they
have their party. (Nonetheless, we bet it’ll be quite the party to
crash just for bragging rights, even with all the
dour moods and frowns sure to be attending.) Earlier today on the
comments of this blog, a reader wrote the following letter
to Dr. Laura, asking for what to do in the event of a
fiancee who doesn’t live with her man. It’s such a kick that we
decided to reproduce it here, and give it the brighter light it
deserves. Dr. Laura? Are you out there? Any answers? And why didn’t
The Indy get any invites to the N-P soiree? It’s
only fair, considering your staff was at out party, right? Here’s
the letter: Dear Dr. Laura, My boss Wendy McCaw stays behind
her closed doors and so I’m turning to you for advice. It’s about
our News-Press holiday party at the El Paseo next week. I’ve worked
at the newspaper for 8 years and I’m engaged to marry my boyfriend
on New Year’s Eve. My sweetheart and I have been saving ourselves
for marriage and we’re continuing to live apart until our wedding
night. I’m sure you’d approve. How can I go with my fiancé to the
party? Wendy’s invitation says I have to be either be married or
living with Jim for him to go. Wendy says her security people will
be checking names and addresses at the door. Should Jim move in
with me, to live “in sin” before the party, like fiancés Wendy and
Arthur, so that my boyfriend can enjoy the company party with me?
Do you think it deviant and a biological error, Dr. Laura, or even
fair, that Travis and his live-in boyfriend get to go to the party
when my fiancé and I can’t? Is there any way I can celebrate with
both my loved one and my co-workers and yet continue to live apart
until marriage? I want to have my friends from work meet Jim. I
don’t want to skip the party like other employees. They think
there’s nothing to celebrate when so many lives have been ruined
this year. I don’t want my boyfriend to have to try to sneak
in—look at what Wendy’s bouncers did to that man at the Biltmore,
and he had a ticket! Dr. Laura, am I being discriminated against
since my private lifestyle – straight, moral and believing in
marriage and children – isn’t shared by those who run the paper,
Wendy, Arthur and Travis? Do I need a union to protect me? What
would you and Jesus have me do? I sent this to your email address
and you haven’t responded. I know from your column that you read
the Independent and I hope you can answer me. Your advice is
sincerely appreciated. Merry Christmas. Signed, a loyal, hard
working News-Press employee P.S. If my boyfriend moves in with me
so that he can go to our Christmas party, what ID does he bring to
the door? Should I try to put the water bill in his name? Hope to
see you there.