the circus still runs, but it's no longer fun

We lost 3 reporters in the past week: one to the first firing since I can remember, one to the competitor, and another to a NE Ohio daily. All three are friends.

Unfortunately, I have a tough time getting worked up over editorial endings. No offense to recently departed, I've watched a legion of reporters leave. The good, the bad, the close, the distant and all shades between them. It rarely phases me anymore.

The latest departure has nothing to do with our editorial; one of my closest friends in another department has a better opportunity, a chance to seek out a more comfortable niche.

I've always gotten by at this place by having friends in other departments, someone who I could hunt down whenever I needed a break from the chest-thumping of our leadership or the overbearing propaganda from the same quarters.

As friends of those outside this department dwindle, I really wonder why it's worth my while to stick around here any longer.

Job-wise, I've squeezed everything drinkable and edible from this rotten orange; it offers me no further value, no chance for advancement.

But I would love to kick that blighted fruit once on the way out the door.