ewspaper Reporter Sally

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

One of the Baron’s college friends that stopped by from time to time was just back from a visit to South Florida. He said that Florida was a very fine place to visit for a vacation and tropical outdoor sports on a year-round schedule.

The Baron’s friend worked with a newspaper and he looked for a possible story line in his paper. One such story came to mind.

It seemed that there was a woman reporter named Sally who worked at the Daily Herald of Tampa. She was given a special assignment to observe an alligator in the Everglades National Park. Like all assignments, she embraced the prospective job with great enthusiasm. She went to the everglades and found an alligator to be observed. First, she wanted to see if the alligator was friendly or not. The alligator seemed very quiet and friendly at first. But, suddenly and unexpectedly, the alligator bit Sally’s toe. Sally reported this incident to her editor. The editor said that next time she should wear a pair of very heavy construction workers’ boots, which is just what she did.

The next day, Sally went out to the everglades to the same spot and saw the same alligator. This time Sally was being more cautious. She felt confident that her new construction boots would really work in case of another alligator bite.

Everything was going very well and Sally made very good notes about the alligator’s behavior.

Then it happened. She slipped and the alligator bit her nose. She jumped back and retreated for cover. She closed her reporter’s notebook and declared this assignment was over.

Upon returning to the newspaper, Sally told the editor what happened and submitted her story. The editor was very sympathetic and understanding about the two bites that she had sustained, first on her toe, and then the next day on her nose.

After Sally left the editor’s office, the editor turned to an associate and said that Sally was a fine reporter. This proved that she had a nose for news.