The 'new' ways have me sweating

As a disciple of the edict that children should be heard, not seen, my career path after college graduation took me into radio as opposed to television. In that environment, I thrived as my voice did all the work and how I looked was best left to the imagination of listeners. I did, and still do, have a face for radio. Close to 25 years ago, I made the switch to print journalism where, outside of a small column photo, my prose painted a picture of who I am. I could live with that. But now with the advent of the Internet as a growing news source for an equally growing number of people, my employer has invested considerable resources in our newspaper's website. That has recently necessitated that I go before a camera as part of a weekly news summary being aired on the site. I can no longer hide. I'm out there and it's scary. While being taped for the inaugural broadcast, I squirmed and fidgeted but just couldn't get comfortable. I was nervous; more nervous than a fat man at a cannibal convention. I suppose, with time, I'll get use to the "new" ways but until then, sweaty palms and bum-sticking boxers will rule the day. Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks but the frog-into-a-prince fable remains exactly that.