Trip Hazard

## Overview

Trip Hazard is currently the CEO of Weazel News. He is generally friendly to anyone who is at least neutral towards him, polite, and usually has a happy disposition. He takes takes his job very seriously and seldom finds time to relax. His drive has helped him exceed his career goals since moving to the city. He had a thick southern drawl and worked diligently to suppress it through voice and diction training. Despite this, he still has a light accent that he is sometimes self-conscious about. His accent becomes thicker when he is relaxed, around people he feels comfortable with, or when he's been drinking.

## Early Life and Early Career

Trip grew up poor, living the farm life in Mud Lick, Kentucky. His family had expectations of him carrying on the tradition of tobacco farming, and it was the genesis of his strong work ethic. Working outdoors toiling in the heat and oppressive summer humidity was not the life Trip envisioned for himself. There was little to do for fun where Trip grew up, and he found his escape watching the larger-than-life personalities on television. This inspired a spark in Trip to pursue a career in television, as he longed to escape the farm.

He studied in school diligently, earning a scholarship to study broadcasting. After getting his degree, he accepted a position at the Weazel News affiliate in Louisville, KY as a reporter. There, he became an award winning journalist when he reported on poor rural people running a methamphetamine ring. The project exposed the economic conditions that drove people to a life of crime rather than passing judgment on the people others would dismiss as "hillbillies." His work in the field saw him promoted to anchor, a position he held for the 15 years that followed.

Trip hit a dead end in his career if he chose to stay in Louisville. Trip always longed to be either on a cable news network or work in a top 5 market. He felt that his work would appeal to a wider audience. The higher-ups at Weazel News agreed, offering him a position as reporter at their flagship station in Los Santos. Although there is a certain degree of comfort he enjoyed in his position in Louisville, the thought of going from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond was both daunting and exciting. The thrill of being able to get out on the streets as a reporter again ultimately led Trip to accept the position.

## Life in Los Santos

#### Muscle Spasms, Lockjaw, and Alcoholism

Upon arriving in Los Santos, Trip found himself struggling with muscle spasms and began a daily routine of extreme yoga in his apartment to retrain his muscle memory. He mostly overcame the condition, although occasionally still has an episode. As he began to meet people in the city he found others had similar issues and began investigating the origins of the condition. Trip also developed a case of severe lockjaw when he arrived in the city. Being new to the city, he wasn't sure where to turn so Trip turned to alcohol. The warm embrace of bourbon helped him deal with the feeling of no longer being in control of his body. Trip still managed to get his work done, but did so as a functioning alcoholic.

#### The Weazel News Walk-Out and HR Struggles

Trip's first item of business when arriving in Los Santos was to check in at Weazel News, where he found the building locked and no one going in or out. He was a bit concerned, but figured it would be sorted out within a few days. Unbeknownst to Trip at the time, a Weazel News reporter had recently been shot and killed, leading to an apparent walk-out of the entire Weazel staff. With no access to the building or equipment, Trip was determined to fulfill the job he came to do despite the setbacks. This proved difficult, but he found a notepad in the pocket of his blazer and began taking meticulous notes during the Tim Horton v. The State of Los Santos trial. In the following days, Trip invested his own cash into purchasing a news van, and bought an XLR camera at the store. The camera was less than ideal, but allowed Trip to take video. Next, he produced his own graphics and began doing live news coverage and pre-produced news packages using his new camera. Despite not technically being employed, Trip Hazard managed to somehow resume news coverage in the city albeit at a significant personal financial loss.

#### Hard Times and Odd Jobs

Now with a negative net worth, Trip found himself in a dire financial situation. He had no choice but to take on any odd job he could find to simply buy food and refuel the van. Feeling humiliated by defeat, he was ready to tell people it was part of work for a news story he was working on when in reality it was a struggle to get by. He didn't enjoy being a trash collector in his only suit, but he sucked it up and powered through it. A combination of incidents that occurred during this time triggered a mental health episode for Trip, the first being a pizza delivery at Pillbox Medical while working for Pizza Palace. An apparent fellow reporter was outside the hospital when Trip arrived via scooter, pizza in hand. Mortified, he froze in his tracks, too embarrassed to complete the delivery. After more than a month of ignored phone calls and searching for other Weazel employees, he was unable to pull himself together. He hopped back on the scooter and went immediately to GoPostal to deliver packages. The route he was assigned included a delivery to Weazel News. Overcome with emotions at his situation, he was not seen for several days afterward.

#### One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Times were still desperate for Trip, who found himself skinning roadkill and selling fish when he really wanted to be in the heart of the city covering the day's news. Still, Trip was determined to keep his head down long enough to pay off the van and achieve financial stability. Trip found solace in the quiet contemplation of fishing to get through his predicament and finally paid off the van. Things seemed to be turning around, with enough of his welfare check left over after food to fuel the van. Trip would finally be able to get by until his HR situation was sorted out with Weazel News. Trip used the some of his last remaining funds to rent a boat to go fishing. He dove off the end of the pier where he struck his head on a rock and nearly drowned. Trip has no memory of the incident, but lost all of his possessions and significant amount of what little money was left as he drifted further and further out to sea. Further compounding his string of bad luck, the news van then broke down on Vinewood Boulevard. Desperate and frustrated, Trip thought back to the story that launched his career. Economic conditions led him to reach out to his contacts in the criminal underworld to explore more options. Trip was very close to a road he thought he'd never travel. His moral and ethical beliefs steered him away from a life of crime, but came very close to making some very different life choices.

#### Grand Opening and Becoming CEO

Weazel News completed the ongoing renovations to their facility which is noted for the ornate and modern décor and state-of-the-art studios. Shortly after, Trip was named CEO of Weazel News and began overseeing its day to day operations. Trip's ongoing HR problems were finally solved. Now, not only was he on the payroll as he had hoped for, but also in charge of the entire company. The first new hire on Trip's watch was Alejandro Guererro, who quickly proved that not only was he a great choice, but had the business acumen to do more than just be a cameraman. Alejandro was swiftly promoted to General Manager. Trip was extremely relieved that not only had his perseverance finally paid off, but that he was also able to find someone capable of lightening the growing load of his newfound administrative responsibilities. Together the two began to outline future goals for the company only to find most of the goals, or at least the projected timeframes, would need to be heavily adjusted. Heavily. After accessing the bank account, it one thing was clear... the company was broke.

## Relationships

**Simone** **Olivares** - Simone helped Trip tremendously when he first arrived in city, lending an ear to listen to his problems and helping guide him through plastic surgery to fix his lockjaw. Trip enjoys their conversations and admires her business acumen. Because of the kindness she showed him, Trip has been inspired to occasionally clear his schedule to help a new transplant to the city.

**Thomas Palmer** - Trip's very first lead on a story in Los Santos was attempting to find a missing friend of Thomas's. Although the friend was found pretty quickly and the story didn't pan out, a new friendship did. In the rare event Trip has time to spend with friends, Thomas is the first person he calls. Trip admires Thomas's intelligence and organizational abilities, and enjoys making him laugh.

**Alejandro Guerrero** - Trip considers Alejandro his right hand man. Trip is impressed with Alejandro's work ethic and long term planning skills. Trip also appreciates having a friend he can confide in about anything. Trip wishes he was as cool as Alejandro.

**Dusty** - Dusty is the kind of friend who would give you the shirt off his back. Trip met Dusty after Trip was used as a hostage in a jewelry store heist, The police offered Trip a ride home then accidentally left him behind. Dusty was driving by and offered Trip a ride and they've been friends ever since. Trip enjoys Dusty's company, and they often talk about their aspirations and encourage each other to follow their goals.

**Ace Thunder** - Trip can't quite put a finger on what exactly it is he likes about Ace. Something about him seems familiar and Trip enjoys having a co-worker to crack jokes with that would get either of them in trouble with HR.

**Ron Wick** - Trip finds this upstart reporter very impressive. The day they met they won't soon forget. They were taken hostage mid-sentence, filmed a stolen bus, and Ron saw Trip get his ass kicked all within 30 minutes of meeting each other. Only in Los Santos can you bond with a new friend that quickly.

## Additional Notes

The character of Trip Hazard debuted as news correspondent during comedy sketches for *The Morning After,* a morning radio show, in 2005. His name is an inside joke for broadcasters, who are often reminded to tape down loose cords and cables when broadcasting live on location, so as not to be a liability by creating a trip hazard. Trip Hazard was written by and usually portrayed by MelloJoe, although occasionally others would play the character, because any live broadcaster can be a 'trip hazard.'