Working on Ted's "street"

My first “real” job was at CNN as a web developer during the height of the dot-com boom. At the time, I looked like I had just walked off the streets, with torn-up jeans, flip-flops, and a t-shirt. The reality was pretty close to the truth. I had been living on friends’ couches and floating around California only months prior. Thus, the fact that when I started they had nowhere for me to work didn’t really faze me. The whole building that housed CNN was in constant flux, with new workspaces being built out daily. It may seem odd, but for my first few weeks, I was literally stationed in a hallway on the top floor, sitting at a wooden school desk (with the pencil holder indentation) outside of people’s offices. I had no computer, just a desk. It sounds like the craziest thing, but looking back, I have always felt like fate put me there. Why? I was on the top floor, outside the office of the crew that were the pioneers behind CNN.com, and I was a stone’s throw from Ted Turner’s apartment. For that second part, YES, you heard me right. Ted had an apartment at the top of CNN. There I was, some random rural kid who looked homeless, sitting in a hallway, getting passed daily by arguably one of media’s biggest innovators of all time. Obviously, any person in their right mind who saw me in this situation would be like, "WTF?" Ted, being Ted, definitely wasn’t going to be shy about asking the question. Really, what in the world was I doing there? I was either the most bizarre secretary ever hired, or I did something really important that no one had figured out yet. At the time, I didn’t know, but I was forthcoming that as soon as I figured it out, I’d let everyone know.

Unfortunately, I never got to work with Ted directly. I was just some random kid pushing around bits. However, the energy I would get from running into him on the escalator, elevator, or randomly in the building doesn’t escape me. There was electricity in the air at that time. You can’t deny that he created it. That said, CNN is no longer CNN; the last tenants moved out a few months back. It’s been years since Ted was there. Yet, I can still remember that feeling. It is something I chase to this day. As the saying goes, we all put our pants on the same way. However, when someone who has some super fancy pants knows that and treats you accordingly, it goes a long way. Here's to the dreamers and those that inspire them. Thanks, Ted.