Skip to main content

Controversy? Why Not?



Well!

It’s always the pieces that I work the hardest on and I put out into the world with great hopes than nobody reads. And the ones that I suspect will slip soundlessly into the night turn out to be the ones that everybody reads.

Let that be a lesson to me, I guess.

Some folks seemed to think that I wrote yesterday’s post about one particular person. Holy cow, no. It was about a pattern of behavior which has been employed by a number of people on the local scene, and, as I noted, probably elsewhere. This is not a gossip column. I am not here to churn out breathless hit pieces.

A clarification:

I mentioned my own passionate involvement in 1) covering a certain BOE race and 2) the importance of music education to make it clear that I do know what it’s like to be outspoken about issues because one cares so much about them. But that was not the point of the piece. If that was not clear I sincerely apologize.

When I wrote “It can be a very fine line between caring deeply about something and wanting to rule the world,” I probably should have written: “It can be a very fine line between caring deeply about something and coming across like someone who wants to rule the world,” because I have no way of knowing what motivates other people. I do know that how people engage can have a positive impact or make things worse. I know how their behavior affects me.

That was the point of the piece. And that’s not an attack on anyone who wants to make a difference in community life. We need people like that. I tip my hat to people who go to meetings, ask the important questions, listen to and learn from others, organize for positive change. If you are a regular reader of the blog you know that.

What I object to, and both of these points were stated by other people in the comments (and better than I could’ve done) is this: 

1)…the mentality that “I have an opinion, mine is the only opinion that matters, and if you disagree with me, not only does your opinion count for nothing, but you don't even have the right to have an opinion.”

2) We can’t turn everything into a three alarm fire.

That’s it. In retrospect I think a big chunk of this comes down to whether people understand healthy boundaries. And that I experience both of those behaviors as boundary violations, or at the very least, red flags as to whether I can find the person credible and/or trustworthy. If you like having people shout at you and taking up all the oxygen in the room then you won’t agree with my assessment.

Your mileage may vary, as the cool kids say.

Have a wonderful day. Just a thought: find a moment to really, really listen to someone today. I’ll hold myself to that as well.


Village Green/Town² Comments 


*****

Today in Local HoCo: I invite you to catch the excitement going on in the Village of Wilde Lake as they count down the days ‘til the opening of their new grocery store.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more