Rich Roszel

I wanted to take a quick moment to salute some of the people who make life here away from my family bearable. I don’t say this to mean that most of the people I work with are UN-bearable, but the traveling media crew is a tough lot. They’re a hard working group that seems to have hardened a bit after years on the road. Most of these guys work for sports networks or on other shows that are shot on one location after another. That, in and of itself, is a lot different from my background of working in the same non-moving studio day after day. Without pointing fingers, there’s a lot of cynicism and coarse language that flow freely, and that, combined with 10- or 12-hour days, can wear a person down after awhile when you’re not used to it.

There are, however, a few people who are a breath of fresh air in my day. One of them is the cleaning guy who I don’t see until the end of the day. This guy reminds me a little bit of Latka from the old TV show, “Taxi,” but only because of his accent. I regret that I can’t remember his name, but he’s extremely nice, always works hard and never complains. His day continues long after mine ends and he’s still happy. He’s an inspiration.

There are also the guys I had lunch with today. Based on my first paragraph in this post, you may imagine that this part of my world is not heavily populated by Christians. I just learned that these two ARE Christians. One is a guy who comes to my control room every day to make sure the fiber circuits are all working as they should. He and I had lunch and talked about life. The second guy joined us after overhearing part of our conversation. I don’t remember where he’s working on the crew, but he, too, is a believer and has worked in Christian Radio. He’s familiar with my past. Lunch was refreshing.

The next group of people who bring some fresh air to the mix are the group of ladies who work with our Logistics department. They make sure the members of the crew have what they need in terms of food, transportation, information, etc. to get their jobs done. Usually two or three of these folks drop into the Commentary Control Room once or twice each day to update our schedules, distribute smiles, bring snacks and, in my case, keep me supplied with Diet Coke. (Hence the title of this post.) They were my first glimmer of sunshine when I came to work here and they continue to make my days a little nicer.

I only have a picture of these two because they showed up with snacks and a camera. I don’t always have my camera with me. I’m inviting all of my unsung heroes out for a nice meal this weekend just to say thanks, and perhaps I can get a picture of the rest of them then.

I don’t tend to feel homesick in the traditional sense, but now that I’m past the halfway point in the 2010 Olympics, I’m learning more and more about what makes home and family so special. My friends, the heroes, don’t replace that, but they do bring me one step closer to it and remind me of all the nice blessings I’m having to do without for this short season.

If you’re part of the friends and family that make up my home team, rest assured I’ll be VERY glad to see you when next we meet. In the meantime, I’m raising a Diet Coke to toast the ones who get me through.

– Rich