Speculation, Rumors and Gossip - OH MY!

From 2002-2006 I was a Communications Supervisor where I work.  One of biggest frustrations I had as a supervisor was when the people that worked in my department would speculate as to why I made certain decisions or what steps I was or was not taking to deal with certain issues.  99.9% of the time those people were wrong.  I also learned that I had to be careful to base my decisions on fact and not my own speculation.  Someone once said that, in the absence of an honest explanation, peoples' perceptions become their reality.  (I'm sure I butchered the quote, but I think you get the picture).  However, there are times when explanations are not possible for whatever reasons.  Or the explanation part of the equation may not be anyone else's business.  It still happens all the time, and I'll admit that I'm sometimes guilty of it myself. 
One example of this was my recent decision to delete my Facebook account.  The reasons basically boiled down to drama.  When I got to the point where I was stressing over my "status updates" and trying to make sure that I was wording things so as not to be taken out context, it just became easier not to have facebook.  When I had to deal with people actually being jealous over the reactions I would get to my facebook status or things I posted on facebook...it was just easier not to have facebook.  But here's the part that, had it not been so funny, would have been frustrating.  I found out recently that people were actually speculating as to WHY I had deleted my facebook account.  This came in spite of the fact that I explained my reasons on facebook and in person.  Of course the speculation was that my decision was made for reasons other than those I gave. 
So I would just ask this.  If you want to know why I made a decision, just ask.  If you want to know why I did something, just ask.  If you want to know why I didn't do something, just ask.  I'll either answer the question honestly or I won't answer it at all.  If I choose to not answer the question...then that means that the answer is none of your business and therefore nothing for you worry about.  Basically it boils down to this...don't try to read my mind...you're not very good at it.

Why Worry?

Nowadays it seems like there's so much stuff going on in the world that you can't help but worry.  But when it comes right down to it, what good does worrying do?  Not a whole lot...I saw a comedian recently who put it all in to perspective...

Take a look..

Alonzo Bodden Puts Everying in Perspective

Back to Work

Well after returning from vacation I'm back to work...well sort of.  My first two days back to work after my weekend in Myrtle Beach were spent in training classes.  Crimes in Progress and Active Shooter classes for dispatchers.  Then this week I started my week in Xenia for a dispatcher training day.  The "highlight" of that training was a review of a tragic event and hearing the event from the perspective of the dispatchers working that day.  The event was the killing of Dep. Suzanne Hopper with the Clark Co. Sheriff's Office.  She was probably the first officer killed in the line of duty this year in a year that has seen an unusual amount of violence directed at police officers. 

For me, going to training outside of my own agency is a way to improve my skills, keep my skills up, and I'll admit to even relaxing a bit and being able to do a little networking with dispatchers from other departments, and seeing some people from other departments who I've met along the way over the last 13-14 years dispatching.   

But the best part of the last couple of weeks wasn't getting out away from the grind while still getting paid...it was taking a 9-1-1 call last Saturday.  Now usually taking 9-1-1 calls involves someone calling at a bad point in their life.  But this was a little different.  Imagine taking your wife to the hospital and having her give birth right in the car.  They didn't even have time to get pulled off to the side of the road.  She just gave birth while enroute.  So when dad called he decided that, rather than pull over and wait for a medic, he'd just drive on in to the hospital.  That turned out to be a pretty easy call...pretty much just involved staying on the phone with dad while he drove mom and baby to the hospital.  I was also able to radio ahead to the hospital and let them know what they had coming in to their ER.  Dad and mom both did a pretty good job of staying calm and everyone made it to the hospital safe.  It was a good day.

Back From Vacation

Well, I returned early this morning from a short vacation in Myrtle Beach.  Kristine and I headed down for a few days.  Have to say the weather was much better this time around, and we were able to spend several hours on the beach Saturday.  The hotel was also a lot better than the place we stayed last year.  Also, if you like going to shows and enjoy Myrtle Beach, then I really have to recommend the Alabama Theater at Barefoot Landing.  They're house show "One - The Show" is excellent.  We went to see it last year and made it a point to go back again this year.  Also had an opportunity to see the Oak Ridge Boys in concert.  They put on an excellent show.  Even better than I remember back in 1981 when I saw them at the Ohio State Fair. 

The worst part of the trip was, of course, the part where we had to leave.  We left in the late afternoon Sunday, so it was almost 3am by the time we got back to Reynoldsburg this morning.  While I have to go back to work tomorrow, Kristine has the week off.  She and mom will be going to a cooking show tomorrow in Lancaster.  That's something that Kristine enjoyed doing for a long time, but hasn't been able to attend one in quite a while.  She opened up the paper this afternoon and saw that there was a show tomorrow in Lancaster, so she gave mom a call and they made plans to attend.  Kristine will enjoy going to the cooking show again, and getting to spend some time with mom, and hopefully mom will enjoy the show as well, and getting to spend some one on one time with Kristine.  Me, on the other hand, I'll be in a class tomorrow, trying to learn something that will make me better at my job. 

For now, I'm going to try to catch a little nap and get ready for heading back to work.

Latest Update

I hadn't had a new entry in a while, so thought I should post something to make sure I'm keeping up on this and not letting it go by the wayside.  Blogging or journaling or whatever can be theraputic...but don't expect me to be able to spell everything correctly.  LOL

I got rid of my facebook page the other day.  A lot of people were surprised that I would dare give up facebook.  But the reality is that I survived for years without facebook.  It just had gotten too political.  Everyone seemed so concerned about being your "friend".  The reality is...being a real "friend" means that you don't have to rely on facebook to keep in touch.  The majority of people who were my "friends" on facebook were co-workers (who I see almost every day), family members (most of whom I see I talk to on a regular basis).  The only other "friends" were people who I went to high school with (most of whom didn't really associate with me in high school, and old army buddies.  Now don't get me wrong, facebook was a great way to find old friends who I had lost touch with.  If it hadn't been for facebook I might not have found the woman who I'm dating.  She was a friend I'd known as a child and had lost touch with. 

But it had gotten to the point where I couldn't post a comment about something I'd done because some people would get offended.  Drama permeated everything I did.  I would make a simple post about something that had happened to me or something I had done and somehow someone would take offense.  I found it amazing that people would take offense to comments that had absolutely nothing to do with them.  So I finally got to the point where I would just post non-sensical funny posts or jokes, or nothing at all.  At that point I realized that, if you really want to keep in touch with me, you can email me, call me or even...brace yourselves now...write me a letter. 

For me, facebook had served it's purpose.  It had become more of a way to find drama than a way to find old friends...so for me, facebook is no more.