Bloopers, Mishaps and Epic Fails
You Can't Win Them All
April 2024 Issue
Bloopers, Mishaps and Epic Fails...
You Can't Win Them All
Over the course of publishing Pink Magazine for 20 years, things are sure to happen. That’s life. However, there are some things we will never forget. We have a lot of stories—some funny, some grueling and many beyond aggravating. Here are a few for the record books for a quick peak behind the scenes at Pink.
Tearing Out and Tearing Up:
As the magazines were about to hit the stands, we were put on hold by one of our featured women for that particular month. She had decided to go back on her own words stating she did not want her story to go public because she mentioned some details she didn't want her parents to know. A grown woman, in her late 30s, not understanding she could have just said, “Can we keep this off the record?” So, in the middle of August in the South Carolina heat, sitting in an un-airconditioned warehouse, our entire staff went through every single magazine and ripped out her article… Nearly 18,000 magazines later, we were stressed, overheated, exhausted and frankly, pissed.
Russian Roulette:
Distribution time had rolled around again and due to circumstances beyond our control, the delivery was running late. Already completely stressed, we had no idea more stress was on the way. After dealing with the trucking company all day, trying to locate the magazines and get them to our warehouse, we finally were given an ETA—9:00 p.m. There was no truck at 9:00, 10 or 11:00. Shortly after 11, a white box truck (we are usually delivered via tractor trailer) pulled in. Right when we thought it was going to be alright, we learned the truck was manned by two burley Russian men, who spoke no English, and their truck’s lift gate was broken. (Our pallets weigh roughly 2400 pounds each) It was a nightmare. After a worthless conversation of mainly hand gestures, trying to figure out how to get the magazines unloaded, the only solution was to unload every single bundle by hand. At the time, Jacie (22) and Conner (26), (Elizabeth’s two children) were the only ones there to help. Calling in reinforcements, Avery Campbell, a friend of Jacie’s and Bernie, the sweet lady who lived on the warehouse grounds, came to the rescue. Finally ending this escapade a little after 1:00 a.m., Bernie got them a round of Corona beers and they all toasted to a job that was thankfully over.
Uhaul Brawl:
Over the years, we have discovered good magazine printers that can handle our job are hard to come by, so when we came across the one we have now, we were thrilled. The only thing is we had trouble two separate times trying to get the magazines from them in Atlanta to our warehouse in Bluffton. Known for doing whatever it takes, Elizabeth rented a 26’ U-Haul, and drove from Columbia to Atlanta to Brunswick to Bluffton to Hilton Head, alone, in the pouring rain, crying the entire way, knowing it couldn't get any worse, and wondering what her life had come to. It worked out fine, and she stopped crying after Atlanta. However, the second time we had to do it, it actually got worse. Elizabeth begged Jacie, her daughter, to go with her. They left Bluffton at 5:00 a.m. to head to Macon to pick up the U-Haul.. Once they reached Macon and the U-Haul destination, they became concerned. The U-Haul rental location was an old liquidation store with chains and cell bars on the front door. Seeing the U-Haul out front confirmed they were at the right place, but in no way did they think this was truly it. Trying to figure out the situation with U-Haul over the phone and going to a different location across town, they were quickly running out of time, and told to go back to the liquidation store. The one man inside had finally opened the store so they could obtain the truck keys.
Walking inside, the awful smell of cat urine made them uneasy, as did the merchandise on the shelves that hadn’t been touched since circa 1972. The creepy man was nice, but weird. He said he had not unlocked the door because he had a small kitchen fire in the back he was dealing with. The two got the keys, and went about their business, an exhausting 23-hour day trip once it was all done. They told a friend about their experience with the man, the run-down store, the awful smell, and the “kitchen fire in the back,” The friend immediately exclaimed the two had picked up their U-Haul at an operating meth lab.