A Love Letter to Writers' Rooms

I'm a TV writer. And let me start by admitting that I have a total crush on my job. It makes me gooey inside, I stay up late thinking about it, and I would gladly drive cross-country in a diaper to beat down any office-wrecking ho who tried to take it from me. And now that the WGA strike is over, we are reunited (and clichés be damned, it does feel so good).

Every day, I sit in a room with a bunch of insane(ly) talented people I otherwise would likely not get the chance to meet, let alone befriend. We debate and argue and challenge each other. We vocally support Clinton, Obama, and McCain. We are pro-life and pro-choice. We hated and loved everything about Juno. We think there is no God and God is everything. We are Mormons, sluts, divorcees, new moms, old dads, reds, blues, and greens. We are 26 and... older than 26.

With so many outspoken, opinionated, neuroticons in one space, there is never an unanimous agreement. Not on lunch, not on lines, not on where the life-size cardboard cutout of Chase Utley should be placed for most prosperous feng shui. However, there is always respect for individuality and the understanding that what we write is only as good as the mashup of our differences -- set to screen and sound. Hollywood's a messed up place in many ways, but one thing I really dig about it is its crackhead-esque dependence on the collaboration of different kinds of folks.

So, friends, as we readjust to the hours and personalities, let's keep in mind that what we do is fun. No one "needs" us, at least not in the way you need medical professionals and hookers -- yet they still want us around. And that's pretty effing cool.

My name is Taii. And I get paid to write jokes about balls.