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Crazy Roy is all business in the control room.

Every office seems to have certain people who keep the place lively and laughing.  We’ve got a lot of personalities like that on the morning shift at Fox Chicago.  But a big standout is producer Roy Santoro.  He’s proud that I refer to him as Crazy Roy.  This guy works hard in the evolving news biz but he also plays hard.  More than once he’s told me he’s surprised to still be alive.

Just yesterday he asked the newsroom, “Is it so wrong to be disgusting?”  Roy usually can’t go more than five minutes without using the F-word.  So last year, I challenged him to go an entire workday without dropping any F-bombs. I even offered to donate $100 to the charity of his choice if he could do it. Everyone in the newsroom lent their ears to enforce to challenge and he did pretty well.  But during the sixth hour, a technical problem prompted a pretty big and loud “F*#%!”.  The whole newsroom reacted and he looked pretty disappointed.  Maybe it’s time for another challenge.

Grammy Winner Richard Marx and ABC Radio's Roe Conn, who confirms Roy is crazy!

ABC Radio host Roe Conn happened to be in the newsroom yesterday.  He had worked with Roy years ago at WBBM-TV. When asked about Roy, Roe has a lot to share including a story about a newsroom fight!  I can’t recall the details but Roe says it made him respect Roy ever after. However, he adds, “I don’t know anyone darker, crazier or more passionate about hating himself.”

But we all know Roy is quite passionate about his work.  He can produce the heck out of a show and he’s got top-notch instincts when handling breaking news.  He may be crazy but a lot of people are crazy about him.

Long before newsrooms became more subdued in the age of political correctness, shouting and cursing were the norm.  F-bombs would fly freely, especially as deadlines and show times approached.  I’ve always tried to avoid cursing but I must admit that I do from time to time.  Never on television, of course!

Anchoring in HK, where I learned Chinese swear words!

When I worked at TVB News in Hong Kong, I anchored the English-language newscasts but the newsroom operated mainly in Chinese. Boy, did I learn a lot of new Chinese words that my parents never taught me.  In fact, the terms are so crude I can’t even write about them here.  How interesting to experience the same newsroom culture but in a different language.

These days, “crap” is my crutch pseudo-swear word but I am clearly overusing it.  I heard my tween daughter use it casually last week. Crap!

So today my marketing pal, Jeff Willinger, told me to try a made-up swear word that he picked up: “shinnamon”.  WTF kind of word is “shinnamon”?!?!  I told him to try, “Shut the front door!”  But why are we trying to rely on alternatives?  The actual words are implied.

Let’s all try to refrain from using such language.  And don’t curse me out for trying!