5 June 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2758: I can’t relate
Nine-year-old Vertran Stepforth observed his grandfather, 66-year-old Thomas Stepforth Sr., carefully reading the Big Loft Bulletin and the Lofton County Free Voice side by side, with a smile.
“What's happening, Pop-Pop?” Vertran said. “Usually you don't even like the Big Loft Bulletin!
“Today is a great day, Vertran. I am 66 years old and I have lived long enough to finally see the Big Loft Bulletin tell the cold hard truth about its own class of men.”
“Wow – I guess they got tired of my big brother Tom showing them up, among the other reporters at the Free Voice.”
Tom Stepforth, officially Thomas Stepforth III, was 16, and was indeed routinely scooping his much older counterparts at the mainstream paper.
“Which was half the point of us supporting the Free Voice – people who think they are superior can be moved through their pride to catch up!” Mr. Stepforth said, and then laughed. “Pays to stay humble, Vertran!”
“Well, tell me a little more about that,” Vertran said, and his grandfather closed the papers and patted the seat on the sofa next to him.
“I will,” Mr. Stepforth said, and Vertran bounced right over, sat down, got a big hug, and stayed there blissfully in his grandfather's embrace.
“This is the thing, Vertran; to be humble is to understand that you're not better or worse than any other human being because you know more things or have more things or can do more things or have a different color or creed or background. God is God and we are just people, and humility is remembering that and acting accordingly.”
“Pride, in essence, is thinking you are more like God than anyone else for any of the reasons I named, and that leaves you open to making big mistakes and being played around with by people that know that A. You are not God and just stupid, and B. If you are stupid there, you are probably stupid in other ways that can be taken advantage of.”
Vertran considered this.
“Oh, so we basically got the Big Loft Bulletin to do stuff it didn't want to do because the people there are too proud to be beat by Black folks?”
“Well, it is more complicated than that – not just pride of race, but pride of place. The Bulletin is older than Big Loft itself; it was first printed out of Shortport 244 years ago. It never had anything like serious competition.”
“Wow – it's 2020, so, uh, yeah – it's as old as the United States!”
“Older by three months,” Mr. Stepforth said. “So imagine some little upstart paper in 2019, coming along and just embarrassing and scooping that paper at will. Then make it Lofton County's first Black paper to even survive a year – and then have the Bayard Heights Disaster happen and Tom's videos for the Free Voice online being the way the world gets the news of what happens.”
“Oh, they have no choice but to get it together,” Vertran said. “I mean, otherwise, folks are going to start asking what are they even still around for.”
“Exactly,” Mr. Stepforth said. “Now, they could have just started doing the coverage that really needed to be done years ago, but pride will have you thinking you don't need to do the right thing because you are too powerful for consequences, until you find out that no, you're still not God and therefore, those consequences are coming to get you.”
“The Lofton County Free Voice getting more famous and well-known than the Big Loft Bulletin is some consequences,” Vertran said. “I can't relate because I just make good content and don't worry about what everybody else is doing, but I know it's gotta hurt."
“But see, now, the Bulletin is doing the right thing,” Mr. Stepforth said. “Take it from the old man that is your Pop-Pop: most people and institutions have to learn the hard way, but if you can just get and stay in the habit of doing right and not let your pride take over, you will avoid a lot of trouble.”
“Well, I'm with that because the less time I'm in trouble, the more time I have to do stuff,” Vertran said.
“Yes, my grand-mogul, that is correct – now, we just have to take over the world and teach everyone else, because they don't get it. Or, you know, you could go make another good video for Threespeak and YouTube.”
“Right,” Vertran said as they shared a laugh.