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This year marks my 25th year in the newspaper business, which has proven to be a very interesting career choice.

Working that long in this business is proof that I am a very slow learner, I have no aspirations for making a fortune and I had to do something after nearly flunking out of college when I tried my hand at computer programming. It’s also proof that I have a very patient and understanding spouse who has tolerated my unusual work schedule that is challenging at times, to say the least.

I’ve served in various roles over the years, from sports reporter to courts and police reporter, weekly editor, business editor, assistant city editor, city editor and for almost the past six years as a publisher. I’ve worked at daily papers and weekly papers. I’ve written for magazines, appeared on television and radio and created unique Web sites.

I’m not ready to retire just yet, so I’m not going to wax eloquently about all the special people I’ve met over the years. There will be a time and place for that. Rather, I’d like to share a couple of amusing stories about reader interaction, which is always the most unpredictable part of my job.

Back in 1987 when I worked at the Winona Daily News, I was assigned a story about a home and garden tour, which included the gardens of one of Winona’s most reclusive and rich families. I was working the night shift and placed a phone call to the family. The wife answered and was very agreeable, discussing her garden and what visitors might see. In the background I could hear her TV and the strains of the theme song from “M*A*S*H.”

“I must leave you now,” she said. “‘M*A*S*H’ is on.” She hung up.

Another time while working the night shift n yes, the night shift brings out the strange people n I got a call from a very upset elderly woman who wanted to complain about the programming on the cable channel Nick at Night.

I asked her why she called the La Crosse Tribune, and she told me the cable company told her to. After a couple of silent curses under my breath toward that customer-friendly organization that was clearly passing the buck, I asked her how I could help.

“Well, I’m just upset that they don’t show ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ anymore,” she said. “Your TV listings are wrong.”

I quickly looked up Nickelodeon on the Internet and told her that we receive those listings from the same company that told her to call me, but I was going to give her the number of the network in New York City, which I was certain could respond to her complaint about her inability to share quality time with Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schultz. So I did.

In all seriousness, I work in a business that reports many tragic occurrences and the struggles of being human. Reporting about deaths and crime impacts the lives of people, and it’s something that I never take for granted. I’ve been called every name in the book and have had plenty of people yelling and upset. That’s a part of the business that no one looks forward to, but it goes with the territory. I will always try to take the time to listen.

But perhaps the oddest reader interaction I had was shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, in the height of the anthrax scare. A man called me to inquire about whether he could get into trouble mailing a certain vegetable to a local medical center.

Being the inquisitive journalist that I am, I asked why he was considering that and what vegetable was he going to pick?

The man went on to explain that he had an issue with the collections department over his bill, which he was paying off as much as he could each month, but not enough to satisfy the institution. The man said he considered dropping off a sack of pennies each month, but instead was going to send them a message with his payment.

“I’m going to send them a turnip, sealed in plastic so they don’t think it’s contaminated,: the man said. “They want more money and I can’t give them any more. Do you think I could get into trouble if I did that?”

I admired the man for his ingenuity, but told him that I could not offer him legal advice as to whether sending a root vegetable through the United States Postal Service would constitute a crime. He thanked me for my time and said he was going to do it anyway.

I hung up the phone and went digging for another story.

Chris Hardie is the publisher of the River Valley Newspapers Weekly and Shopper Group.