blog – CHRISTOPHER SCOTT MCNEILL

June 27, 2020

(Originally written on September 2, 2014) This month is the beginning of a very full life for me; tomorrow, I start working on my Master’s degree. On top of working two jobs, full time graduate school is daunting. For weeks,

Truth, integrity and justice

June 16, 2020

I decided to pursue journalism after spending 18 months working toward a position with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 2018, when investigations targeting Russian interference in the 2016 election had led to heightened animosity toward federal law enforcement agencies

The anxiety of truth

April 26, 2020

The August air was sweltering, and the necktie wasn’t making anything easier. I parked my car in front of an ominous building that might as well have been a fortress—it was surrounded by a tall concrete fence crowned with barbed

Whole and complete yet broken

April 21, 2020

My work is a 15-minute walk from the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento, California, and when I went to work as an essential employee April 20, I didn’t expect for the Reopen California protests happening that day to make

Temple Coffee Roasters is under fire after stating that protective face masks violate the company’s dress code

April 19, 2020

Reddit user KarmaPurgePlus posted on the Sacramento subreddit April 16 that Temple Coffee Roasters sent an email to all staff indicating that wearing protective facial masks during the coronavirus pandemic violated the company’s dress code. Temple faced immediate backlash from

Finding our Muse

April 16, 2020

Around our first wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided that we wanted a dog. After successfully a houseplant alive for most of that year, we joked that a puppy would be the next step in the natural progression of

Gratuity in the time of corona

April 13, 2020

I have this one regular customer who’s been on my mind today. Prior to the coronavirus, prior to the shelter-in-place order, he may or may not have left a tip when he came in to my coffee shop—I, honestly, have

Making better coffee: chapter 2

April 9, 2020

After procuring quality coffee, there is a bit of work involved in getting a great cup time and time again. There are a few variables at play that can make your life either easier or harder, and until maybe five

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT MCNEILL

a collection of writings