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| KTTC Meteorologist Nick Jansen briefly interrupts his on air forecast on July 28 to text his wife, warning her a dangerous storm was headed their way and to get into the basement. While most people praised Jansen, a few criticized him for caring about his family. |
Such was the case on July 28, when television meteorologist Nick Jansen was on the air at KTTC in Minnesota, warning viewers about dangerous storms passing through the region.
Then he did what a few losers regarded as unthinkable.
After spending hours explaining how the storms packing 70 mph winds and threatening to drop some tornadoes were approaching, Jansen paused, and pulled out his cell phone. He texted someone, taking all of maybe ten seconds to do so. Then he told viewers, "Sorry, just had to text my wife, baby was sleeping,"
He wanted to make sure his family was safe, sheltering in their basement.
That, apparently, was a high crime to a couple KTTC viewers. Apparently, Jansen's quick text was the height of unprofessionalism, because he dared think about his family while at work. The nerve!
The person wrote to the station, saying "That he has to call his wife to make sure she takes the baby to safety? Maybe some people think it's noble or cute..... I don't."
Another email from someone, "You should have told your wife before you went to work."
Well, tough shit, viewer.
Jansen, to his credit, clapped back on Facebook. "That's not me being unprofessional... It's me being human. I am a husband and a father FIRST."
The person who complained was clearly in the minority, but still a pain in the butt.
Other viewers who saw Jansen text his wife on air took it as a public service, and a cue to take the storm seriously. "I have heard from a couple of neighbors... They said once you said that about Angie heading to shelter, we're like, 'All right, we better take this seriously if Nick think it's going to impact our little community," Jansen wrote.
I probably would have thought the same thing.
The incident went viral, mostly because the legions of normal people out there know Jansen did exactly the right thing, and complaining about him was dumb. Outlets like Inside Edition, People, E! News and Today picked up the story
Other meteorologists have had on air moments similar to Jansen's Four years ago, James Spann, a legendary Alabama meteorologist and tornado expert, stopped on air during a severe weather outbreak to text his wife. The reason? A tornado was heading right toward his house.
Spann's wife did go into a tornado shelter, and Spann later told viewers after the storm had passed that his wife was safe. Their house was damaged but largely intact.
Television meteorologists - along with other newscasters - are routinely criticized for idiotic things that have nothing do do with their ability to deliver weather forecasts or the news. ABC Meteorologist Ginger Zee earlier this year was told by some dummy on social media, "You're not aging well." Zee replied, "What a privilege to be aging in any manner, thanks for your opinion, though."
A pregnant Seattle meteorologists was insulted by someone who believed her baby bump "distracted from her presentation."
My answer to that viewer is "Stop staring, you pervert."
And don't even get me started on those who whine bitterly that their scheduled viewing of "The Real Housewives of Enosburg Falls" or whatever is interrupted by a meteorologist cutting into the broadcast to tell you a tornado is heading your way.
TV meteorologists are there to tell you whether you need an umbrella tomorrow. Or more importantly, warn you when the weather gets dangerous. That's it.
If you don't like they way they're dressed, or have a family, or a personal life, or private personal opinions, shut up already. Nobody wants to hear it.
he explained to viewers
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