I was so bummed out to hear that Terry Swails lost his weather gig on Channel 8.  Not only is he the best at his profession, but he continues to work to be better.  That is something you can't say about everyone in our business.

I say "Our" business, because I lump radio and TV jobs in together, if for no other reason than the conditions around getting let go are so similar.  In the last year (and over the last 25 years), both of the radio groups in the Quad Cities have let go people I've known well.  And the features are always this:  You come in to work, and they tell you you are no longer working for the company, here's a box for your crap, give us our keys, and don't work for any other radio/TV station for 6 months-to-a-year.  It sucks.  Like Tom Cruise says in "Cocktail"--Everything ends badly, that's why it ends.

To Terry's credit, he was gracious and professional, in spite of obviously being unsure of he next weather forecasting gig.  Maybe that's why his Facebook post about it was so well-liked, shared, and commented on.  We have all lost a job, but I think we see in Terry the way we'd like to be.

The other thing that sucks about our business, is when we get let go, we generally can't say good-bye to the audience we've worked hand-in-hand with the company to build.  That's just because we can't be trusted with the airwaves once we know the company doesn't want us anymore.  When you don't get an on-air good-bye, you feel even more emptiness than from just by being let go alone.

I look forward to Terry's next adventure, and will watch it as it happens.

We had the chance to speak to Terry on the show today.  Here is a quick clip of him thanking everyone for their support.  What a great guy, good luck Terry!

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