Day Five

I felt strangely mournful on the,as always, packed and stinking train to Kings Cross this morning. Not that I wouldn't be getting the train of a morning any more, God no, but instead because it would be the last time I'd walk out of the station for a day of work at The Guardian.

There would be no more free papers and Coffee on arrival, no more comfy chairs from which to survey the morning sports news but at least there would be no more morning trains. I don't think I'm quite ready for a daily commute yet, regardless of how good the job is, and being brushed by a thousand inky, shitty Metro's every morning as they are constantly turned and rustled by people too stingy to buy a good paper is what I'd imagine the 1st circle of hell is like. The work experience has been brilliant if not slightly detaching from the real world. Normal people don't have the facilities and beautiful environment to work from available here and are rarely paid to go and watch football matches. In that sense it might be good to get back to reality, away from the tantalising aspects of a such an amazing job that I'm miles away from ever maybe having. It's an existence that I am glad to have been a part of for a week and a job that, after seeing it's intricate inner workings, I will always respect. The quality of planning and the execution of the work is amazing and bewildering, making newspapers a startling and fascinating industry. There's something strangely altruistic about the whole process, people genuinely want to make the website, or whatever aspect of the paper they are working on, brilliant, often for no tangible reward in terms of increased circulation or the promotion of the Guardian as a whole. In a sense, the website especially, provides a brilliant public service and is one of the most respected news and sports sites in the country with around 2 to 3 million hits a day. As well as this the blogging network  is constantly maintained and added to, all of which is available for free, and is used by hundreds of thousands of people daily. It shows what of a free market ethos I was reared in, in that I can't understand for the life of me why- why give Raphael Honigstein's expert Bundesliga opinion away for free? Obviously the more traffic you get the more you can charge for advertising, but before that you simply have to be good and the Guardian website and blogging network is definitely that and it delights in being so.

Hopefully one day I may be able to be a part of it; the perfect mixture of job enjoyability and political credibility (The Daily Mail Martin Samuels? Really?) as well as the home of nice cake. I have been take aback by the number of people that have willingly proffered their time and efforts to make my time fulfilling and they have made sure I have learnt some very interesting things (Russell Brand is a nightmare to get copy out of and no one will insure Jimmy Bullard are just two examples). It will be with a heavy heart that I bid adieu to the Guardian and it's plethora of exciting adventures. At least I can console myself with the knowledge that I will never again feel the deathly touch of the Metro