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 

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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.