Motivation @ Work
Have you ever noticed that some people are excited to be at work and have an upbeat attitude and never shirk responsibility…but rather seek additional duties and tasks to facilitate the smooth flow of the employer’s operation?
Now, in my beginnings at SIU, others, who were not of the ‘more work passion club’, would call their colleagues who sought to be busy throughout the work-shift, ‘brown nose’s’, and would warn them that their job performance was making everyone else look bad.
Members of the office or shop or classroom, that have a ‘can-do’ attitude and who want to see the stamp of excellence on their work product…are to be prized and as valuable as the scripture, ‘I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.’ Isaiah 13:12 KJV
How does a manager or supervisor or administrator…motivate their staff to be seekers of excellence?
I recall, that in my case, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity that Southern Illinois University afforded to me and my new bride.
I, quickly, saw that there was room for advancement in Building Services and the production of a clean facility would speak volumes regarding my viability as a integral member of the staff.
To feel appreciated by both your customers and your supervisors and management is extremely important.
There is a transformation that occurs when an employee feels that they are valued by their employer.
During my early years with the university I began receiving complimentary letters from building occupants and departments that I was servicing. These letters…so encouraged me…and I began to have more and more buy- in to the organization.
I remember, Ray Phoenix, who was my foreman when I was assigned to the Wham building as its Building Custodian, telling me that I was going to be the next foreman.
Foreman, was my career goal in Building Services…and I could not believe that, Ray, thought enough of my work performance to tell me this information regarding a position that I had been striving for and had been passed over…twice…for contestants that I did not feel were as qualified as I.
About a year and one half later…I became the assistant superintendent of Building Services…I was the junior foreman….and I was 29 years old.
We all need to feel like that we matter to the organization. A wise leader can project to all members of his or her staff, that they are important. This can only be accomplished if the leader is sincere and not reciting the correct platitudes that are expected for the, ‘great unwashed.’
A manager or an administrator must speak to the employee that they are complimenting, from first hand knowledge of the person’s accomplishments. This type of leader is a person that believes that they have been given the job of directing a team of equals.
A leader that inspires is a leader that is your colleague not your taskmaster!
My friend, Brad Dillard, is an inspiring leader, because he sees Plant and Service Operations as a team and he is there to facilitate everyone’s success.
My friend, Ryan, is a professional that loves to produce an excellent work product. He strives to ensure that all of his areas proclaim the golden opportunity that SIU has to offer.
My son, Jonathon, constantly seeks to perform the epitome of customer service and to do so with a smile and a sunny attitude.
My friend, Elizabeth, endeavors to produce an excellent work product, everyday, while at the same time assisting civil service staff throughout the campus.
My son, Aaron, is a leader that regularly works to motivate the members of his staff.
I had the good fortune to be a member of the Civil Service Council for 20 years, including my four years of service as their SUAA representative. This is a group of civil service employees that are going above and beyond the call of duty. These folks are the elected representatives of their university sectors and they work countless hours to help their colleagues.
I was amazed, each time, that a leader at the university, spoke to me regarding my good work. I not only did not expect the encounters…I was shocked when they occurred and I continued to feel more affinity for SIU and wanted to, be a part of the solving of every problem besetting…my school.
When I was promoted to the superintendent of my department, I told the director of PSO and his staff…that my goal was to make our enemies like us and our friends love us.
I had the management philosophy that a good manager could bring a poor work performing member of the staff up to satisfactory and a satisfactory member of the staff up to excellent…and it worked!
Everyone does not respond to the same motivational techniques…in fact each person should be motivated on a personal level…but everyone can be motivated…if they want to be.
That is the key….the employee has to want to improve and to be motivated and to buy-in to the organization.
If they do not…then other issues that are beyond the managers control…are in play.
Rain and Fuzzy Memories
It has been raining all day and the temperature is 65 degrees.
My kind of weather!
I have always enjoyed rain and cool weather and clouds…and night.
I think my affinity for night comes from working for nearly 20 years on either the second or third shift.
We night shift workers understand each other…we have a common bond. When our families and friends and everyone else are arising to begin their day…we are ending ours.
My mother-in-law, many years ago, often telephoned, early in the morning, and when I answered, groggily, she would exclaim, ‘Jay…you are not still in bed…are you?’
When I responded, as politely as an exhausted shift worker can say, that yes I had been in bed for 90 minutes…she would remark that she guessed I did work at night.
When I worked third shift, which is 11pm – 7am, we ate our lunch at 3 am. When you are eating your lunch at 3 am…the world is, somewhat, different for you.
I enjoyed monster movies, when I was a lad, and I still do.
My cousin, Billy, was a monster movie aficionado, and he had a grand collection of, expensive, masks that fit completely over your head…and they had an authentic look.
One time we made a, short, 8mm movie where I portrayed the monster. If memory serves me correctly, I wore the mask of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I also wore the Creature’s claws over my hands and I walked, slowly, toward the camera…gesturing in fish-man fashion.
I had some models of Frankenstein and Dracula and the wolf man that I had glued together, much like a model car kit, and then painstakingly, hand, painted, and they were lost in the fifty five gallon barrel that my parents used for burning the household trash…as we lived in the country.
I had a wonderful comic book collection. When I accompanied my mom to the grocery store, The Food Center or Big Johns, I would purchase one, 12 cent, comic book per week. As the years went by…I had an impressive collection.
I moved away from home the morning after I graduated from High School…I was 17 years old. A few months later I told my mother that I wanted to retrieve my comic books, as they might be worth some money some day. She laughed, heartily, and remarked that she believed that she had burned them in the trash barrel…since it did not appear that I wanted them any longer.
I think about the comic book collection that got away…from time to time.
My mom was a wonderful woman…but when she asked you if you wanted what you had left behind…she meant what she said.
I also had a record collection from my time of belonging to the Columbia Record Club and purchasing one vinyl LP per month. I had quite an assortment of records and listened to them often.
Several years later, mom asked me if I was ever going to take my record collection…and I commented that since CD’s were becoming so popular I doubted if any company would be making record players…much longer.
There is a saying, ‘everything old is new again.’
My aunt, Vema, had a reel to reel tape recorder and at each family gathering…she would make tapes of all present. She loved to recount to me that when she asked me what I wanted for Christmas, on tape, that I, firmly, announced that I did not want a ‘short’…which is how I pronounced shirt.
Years later, I obtained a reel to reel tape recorder and enjoyed it for hours on end. To this day I do not think that there is a better tape recorder than the reel to reel.
The DuQuoin State Fair begins tonight. As I was growing up in Eldorado, Illinois…this was the event of the summer.
Each year we drove, the fifty miles from Eldorado to DuQuoin to enjoy a evening of State Fair bliss!
I saw a headless man…one year.
Another year, at the fair, I witnessed a woman turn into a gorilla!
And, even more mystifying was the snappy music and ladies in their bathing suits and the invitation to come inside…if you wanted to see more.
I never got to go inside?
The Hambeltonian Harness Race was held at the State Fair…for several years. I am told that the Hambeltonian is the most renown harness race in the country.
Bob Hope performed at the fair on several occassions as well as Red Skelton.
In recent years we have had the pleasure of seeing both the late, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson perform.
The Fair sells Malone’s Taffy…and it is to die for!
Rainy days…are peaceful days…days of renewal and refreshment and regeneration for the coming challenges of life.
And, they are also good days….for fuzzy memories.
The Mystery of Poor Work Performance
I was so thrilled to be hired by Southern Illinois University, 40 years ago, that I could not believe my good fortune and thought that, somehow, it was to good to be true.
I had been employed in jobs that were more difficult and that paid much less…and had no benefits.
I was so afraid of not performing, up to par, that I would not take my entire 15 minute break or my 30 minute lunch as well as reporting to work…early.
My wife and I were newlyweds and she was thrilled that I had a job that she could, indeed, create a budget for and that we would be able to purchase enough groceries to feed us as well as pay our little mortgage on our house of 4 rooms.
I was a Building Service Worker I, a janitor, and I was proud as a peacock of the opportunity!
After just few days I could see that there was room for promotion to a crew leader, a Building Custodian, if I did a good job and created a good name for myself.
Although it was commonly thought that you had to have pull to be hired by the University…I knew no one.
The first Christmas after my hiring on October 10, 1978 I relished that I was able to drive, in my new two door Ford LTD, with my new wife…and have nice Christmas gifts for my mother and step-father.
I felt like a player in the game of life.
I began cleaning Thalman Hall on the SIUC campus. It was the General Accounting Building. We often referred to it by its building number, 101.
The Building Service Worker that I followed had let the building become filthy. Simply by doing my job…I began creating a good name among my colleagues.
As a manager, for 25 years, I dealt with personnel issues on a weekly basis.
The mysterious quandary, for me, was the staff member who appeared to have all of the necessary tools to accomplish the job that they had been assigned…with ease…yet they refused to do so.
I recall counseling a young woman, who was 17 years old, that if she did not improve her work performance that she was going to be terminated. She, subsequently informed me that her father was a personal friend of the vice president of campus services…and that she would never be fired.
I informed her that the message that I had given her, had come from the vice president. I then proceeded to work with her for much of her shift in a last ditch effort to train her and bring her job performance up to satisfactory…so that she would not loose the greatest, job, opportunity that would ever be afforded to her.
The young woman continued to perform her work poorly and was terminated.
I have had, more than I care to remember, private counseling sessions with members of my staff that were on the road to loosing their position. I had the practice and management philosophy that the meeting should be made up of three components.
- First, give the employee a sincere compliment regarding something that has impressed you regarding their work performance.
- Second, speak about the specific work duties that they are not performing properly and offer solutions ranging from; additional training, one of one supervisor monitoring…for a few work shifts and finally…to connect them with counseling if their performance problem was related to substance abuse or intellectual disability.
- Third, to once again deliver a heart-felt compliment to the staff member and assure them that I would do anything in my power to ensure that their performance improves…but they would have to tell me how that I could help them.
I have turned many colleagues around with this form of counseling….but not everyone.
There is a segment of employees that simply do not care if they are placing their work-load on their colleagues.
For whatever reason…they do not want to be where they are and they do not want to do what they are paid to do.
Now, this group of…’I really do not care,’ as the first lady had inscribed on her jacket, recently, at times can be turned around. Often domestic issues or other home related problems are somewhat the cause of the lack of work focus.
Also, there is a culture of victimization that often stems from childhood that causes an errant employee to feel that everyone is their enemy and is out to get them…when in reality everyone is hoping beyond hope that they will just, ‘buckle down,’ and do the, fairly, routine and repetitive job functions that will enable them to continue to earn a living and facilitate their needs and those of their family.
As a supervisor and a manager…one thing I knew…the deed of disciplining and participating in the termination of a member of my staff…was mine…and mine alone.
I performed a third shift inspection of Lawson Hall when I was the assistant superintendent. The Building Custodian of Lawson Hall told me that he was thrilled that I had been promoted and that he and I, ‘had good rap.’
I told the gentleman that I had replaced in Thalman 101, that if he did not get the rest rooms cleaned up in Lawson Hall, which looked similar to the rest rooms that I had inherited in 1978…that I would be sitting across the table from him at Personnel and recommending his termination.
Now, this person had been on disability for several years and had came back to work a few months prior to our discussion. The next day he went on disability…again.
Physics teaches us that there is a positive and a negative ion charge. To be a positive leader of men and women in the work place…necessary negative personnel adjustments…must happen…when all else fails.
The Candidate
Is is possible to go back in time…to explain the present?
‘The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States during the early 1970’s, following a break-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972, and President Nixon’s administration’s subsequent attempt to cover up its involvement. After the five burglars were caught and the conspiracy was discovered–chiefly through the work of a few journalist, Congressional staffers and an election finance watchdog official…’ Wikipedia
‘The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by members of the Nixon administration, an impeachment process against the president that led to articles of impeachment, and Nixon’s resignation. The scandal also resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were top Nixon officials.’ Wikipedia
I recall, vividly, when President Nixon resigned the presidency rather than undergo impeachment proceedings that he was certain he would not survive.
The Watergate proceedings were slow and ponderous and the information was forthcoming like the drip of a leaky faucet…until the pipe burst when it was discovered that Nixon had made tapes of his Oval Office conversations.
It is commonly agreed that the ‘cover-up’ was much worse than the crime of the Watergate break-in.
‘Cohen admitted that ‘in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,’ he kept information that would have harmed Trump from becoming public during the 2016 election cycle.’ CNN
When ‘the candidate’ was heard on the Access Hollywood tape…bragging about his license to ‘grab women by the p—-‘, many prominent members of Congress, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, said that they could not back him any longer.
‘When asked in a recent poll what bothered them most about Donald Trump-of a slew of controversies-likely voters picked on actions above all others: When the candidate mocked a reporter with a disability last November.’ NBC News August 11, 2016
Presidential lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said, ‘In an effort to explain why the president hasn’t sat for an interview with investigators in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia Probe, Giuliani said he doesn’t want Trump to ‘trapped in perjury.’
Guilani went on to say, ‘And when you tell me that he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he should’t worry, well that’s so silly because that’s somebody’s version of the truth, not the truth.’
‘Truth is truth,’ Meet the Press Anchor Chuck Todd, responded.
‘No it isn’t,’ Guilani replied. ‘Truth isn’t truth.’ The Hill
John Brennan, former CIA Director, stated, ‘that it was nothing short of treasonous,’ when president Trump defended Russian president Vladimir Putin and criticized his own national security leaders in the question of Russian hacking of the DNC during the 2016 presidential election.
There is a reason why 175 former US officials signed a letter denouncing Trump for revoking, former CIA Director Brennan’s, Security clearance.
The letter states, ‘All of us believe it is critical to protect classified information from unauthorized disclosure. But we believe equally strongly that former government officials have the right to express their unclassified views on what they see as critical national security issues without fear of being punished for doing so.’ CNN
There is a reason why may prominent Republicans such as Washington Post columnist, George F. Will, and former Congressman, Joe Scarborough who is the co-anchor of the MSNBC show, Morning Joe, have left the Republican Party.
Our concern can not be over one man that somehow we thought was going to shake up Washington D.C. and ‘drain the swamp’…heaven knows that both need to be done…and the person for the job…may indeed be a republican….but the daily lies and obfuscations and hall of mirrors…is surely not the answer!
Time Travel Adventures
Please enjoy this wonderful blog by my son, Jonathon.
I enjoy time travel. Memories from fun times in the past live on whenever old friends and I reminisce about them. Photographs and travel journal entries also help me in my time travel adventures. Occasionally I’ll play an old Nintendo game on a new Retron game system that plays my video games from the 1980’s. Another way I time travel is through my recent collection of vinyl records. I’ve collected around fifty of them over the last few years. I travel to the past while I live in the present and dream of the future.
A secret to living a joyful and remarkable life is to live in the present as much as possible. If I’m out for coffee with a friend I’m one hundred percent there with interest in them and our conversation. Whenever I’m at work I put all of my best efforts into doing my jobs to…
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Write What You Know
For the past few, retirement, years I have been actively involved in my life long passion of writing.
I was watching a Showtime network. long running television series, The Affair, and throughly enjoyed a particular exchange between the actor, Dominic West character, Noah…who is a writer, and his protege, and aspiring writer…Anton.
Through the twists and turns of the penultimate episode and the finale, for the season, last night, Noah Solloway and Anton are on their way to Princeton, where Noah, a popular author, has a friend who chairs the english department and who he has put in a good word for Anton…with.
When Noah’s friend asks the student in her writing class, where Anton is sitting in, to write a description of someone and take only fifteen minutes to do so, Anton writes one of Noah.
While the beginning of the description, that Anton reads aloud to the class, is complimentary and perhaps glowing regarding his mentor…his observations soon become more real and at times unflattering and caustic.
When Noah chastises Anton, who is African American and the son of the Principle of the Charter School, in California, where Noah is a teacher, Anton replies that what he wrote was what he believed would be, readily accepted by the audience that he was writing for and that to write his real and candid observations was what he considered….the definition of a writer.
‘Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.’ Walter Wellesley ‘Red’ Smith
In order to connect with a reading audience and writer must have an authenticity and genuineness of spirit that is portrayed in the written word that is being placed upon the paper.
The writing that has moved me has been character driven and something that I could identify with in my life.
When a character, jumps out at you from the page, it is, most likely, a representation of a real person or a composite of people that the author knew.
‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ John 1:14 KJV
Often, a sentence or a phrase or a character…will captivate our mind and emotions.
Writing is a bit of a spiritual experience. Often those stories and ideas that are part of your life and experience and subconsciousness…come to the surface in unique and interesting manners.
I have heard authors say that they could not wait to get back to writing a novel, that they were working on, or a short story, because they wanted to see what their characters were going to do next?
I have discovered that if I am, true, to myself as a, hobbyist, author…I must be honest about my perception of the subject that I am scribbling about. At times…honesty has negative elements and constructive criticism.
Anyone that knows me, knows, that I would never intentionally hurt anyone.
I asked a member of my staff, several years ago, when she informed me that she did not completely trust me,…have I ever lied to you? She replied that I had not.
I then asked her if I had ever failed to fulfill what I had told her that I was going to do or had failed to keep a assurance or promise to her…she answered that I had not.
And, so it is with life,…the more bona fide and veritable that we are with each other…the more we can walk down the road to understanding each other.
Writings that enthrall me…are narratives that I can see the, previously, unrevealed thoughts of the author…and hear their heartbeats offered as a gift to the lucky reader.
A New Beginning!
I know that it must get tiresome reading my continuing blogs posts regarding Southern Illinois University at Carbondale…but it is an institution that I love and have been involved with for 40 years.
SIU is preparing, Monday, to begin the Fall Semester 2018, and they have rolled out the red carpet!
I often wonder if administration realizes the, buy-in and dedication of their civil service staff, into the ultimate success of SIUC?
I am thinking of, a husband and wife, who both work for SIU that work untold hours to ensure that SIU is in, top form, and ready to address any and all student needs!
My son, Jonathon, who is a civil service employee, takes the welfare of the students as 
his personal responsibility and does everything in his power to ensure that their welfare if of paramount importance!
I was a member of the Building Service staff or over 32 years. During that time our student worker staff grew from 120 to 250 and our students were extremely important to our mission.
Civil Service Staff…bleed Saluki Maroon!
We not only bonded with our students…we adopted them…I often told Alfie, my African American Muslim Son, that he ‘was my son…but he just would not call me…daddy!’ Alfie, responded, recently, that, ‘he would call me…daddy!’
Does administration understand…how many hours that we work for the betterment of our University?
Do they know the struggles…and the setbacks and the disappointments that we experience…to facilitate our mission of…being the answer to…SIUC’s enrollment problem?
I love SIUC faculty!
Many of my close friends are SIUC faculty.
But, do you realize that many of your civil service staff are over worked and underpaid and stressed…beyond belief…out of their, supreme, love for their Campus and their, demonstrated, desire to assist in its struggle?
When I was working for SIUC I typically spent 60 – 80 hours per week. I wanted SIUC to succeed, with every fiber of my being, and there was not enough hours in the day to facilitate my desire to enable us to return to our former excellence!
I, call on, all administrators, to look upon your cilvil service staff and take note of their unparalleled
dedication.
Southern Illinois University will return to its former glory…but the civil service staff…will be instrumental in that return!
When a Minister Preaches…or a Singer…Sings…Do You Feel It?
I have been listening, a lot, to Aretha Franklin, lately.
Seldom, have I heard a more, emotionally resonate and spirit filled singer, than the dearly departed Ms. Franklin.
Have you ever listened to 100 songs and enjoyed the beauty of the voice and the lyrics and the melody…and yet felt unmoved by the performance?
When Aretha sings there is a a loneliness and a feeling of, the church, that can not be mimicked.
I, vividly recall, Raul Martin and his accompanist Nancy Summers, singing, ‘I don’t know why I have to cry sometimes’, and moving me to tears…each time I heard it.
I listened to Aretha sing Amazing Grace, yesterday, and it is one of my favorite sacred songs, and, personally felt, the power of God’s amazing grace!
I remember, so enjoying, the scripture reading of our associate pastor, many years ago, Judy Beyler. When she read the text…I experienced the living word of God.
When someone who is, genuine, speaks to you…you feel the truth in your soul.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Now, there are a lot of fakes…out there. And, there are people who endeavor to imitate the, ‘still quiet voice of God, but you know it when you hear it.
I, have experienced, many time in my life, either in a group or individually, and known that God was speaking to me through them.
We are all simply vessels made of clay…but our heavenly father can use us….to touch another who is in distress or despondent or who needs a friend…even…if we do not realize the mission.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Compassionate Leadership
For many years I was charged with the duty of leading and managing a large housekeeping department.
When I first became the Assistant Superintendent of Building Services our full time staff was 150 and our student staff was 120.
I had experienced, for many years prior to entering management, the power that a boss or manager or administrator had over my life and my outlook and peace and happiness.
Much of our waking hours are spent in the necessary endeavor of making a living. To actively engage in this activity we have, at least, one boss and perhaps two or three. A supervisor who lays out clear and easily understood work instructions is important.
A boss must be a clear communicator that says exactly what they mean and does not deviate from their verbal instructions.
A leader must not personalize work related duties but rather see everyone as equal and to be without favorites or enemies. We have all worked in an organization where the favorites of the boss received the good and easy assignments…while the, perceived, enemies of the leader…were meted out their daily ration of punishment.
Have you ever worked for an organization that 8 hours was not enough…and 9 hours was not enough…and 10 hours of work was not enough…and every time that you were able to make a touchdown at the supervisors goal post…they moved the goal post?
Have you ever had your manager change a large component of your operational procedure and replace it with a silly solution that made your job much more difficult? And, to add insult to injury…they did not, even, ask your opinion?
I sat in a literature class in high school. The teacher was in her first year of teaching after college and, many of the students loved her. She spoke to them as her equal and they talked about dates that they had been on and she announced, jubilantly, that her boyfriend was visiting over the weekend and that, ‘if the van was a rocking…don’t come a knock-in!’
I raised my hand on a regular basis…and she never called on me for the entire semester…and I loved literature?
Have you ever felt like that you just were not the bosses cup of tea? Although you did not know each other…you would remain Sisyphus and would continue to roll the stone up the hill…only for it to roll back down again…and the procedure would be yours to repeat throughout your career?
Of late, we see in our political arena…critics of the president being punished. This, actually…is the wrong action from a leader.
Disagreements and criticism of a supervisor or manager of administrator should have nothing to do with the successful work-life of a member of the leader’s staff.
Rather, on the contrary, a leader will provide good evaluations and positive feedback and promotional opportunities to those who disagree with him or her and will not consider constructive criticism that has been leveled against them.
A benevolent leader…will often turn a critic to a supporter…simply by their unbiased attitude and actions towards the critical employee.
My management philosophy was to take care of my people…first…and the work will take care of itself…and it worked for 25 years.
The scripture tells us, ‘that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.’ Proverbs 25:11 KJV
Managers…administrators…bosses…uplift your employees!
The popular motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, said, ‘I really do not care how much you know…until I know how much you care…about me.’
Or my favorite quotation, ‘We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.’ G.K. Chesterton
A Hall of Mirrors
CNN host of the program, Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter, wrote an article, recently, ‘Trump and his media boosters live in a hall of mirrors.’
‘If you’ve ever been in a Mirror Maze attraction at an amusement park, you’ll know that it’s disorienting and repetitive. You’re seeing the same thing over and over again, but some of the reflections are distorted and confusing, making it difficult to fine your way out.’
‘That’s what it’s like to step inside President Trump’s hall of mirrors.’
‘See, Trump’s media cheerleaders repeat what he says, and he relays the message back to them, and the mirror effect continues. You might start to feel dizzy.’ CNN Media
I agree with Mr. Stelter’s hypothesis and would add that each of us…to an extant…live in our own hall of mirrors.
We surround ourselves with people that tend to agree with our way of thinking.
We consume news broadcasts that fulfill our political and societal beliefs.
The clubs that we belong to and the churches that we attend and social events that we frequent…are often in line with our, narrow,view of the world and our place in it.
The frightening element of our, individual, hall of mirrors is that there is becoming an lack of agreement on what we, until recently, agreed were fundamental facts.
We are now being subjected to, daily, a barrage of guttural language where the leader of our country refers to private citizens as; dogs, the stupidest man on television, the press is the enemy of the people, low IQ, dummy, dumbest, dumb as a rock, sleazy drunk/drugged up loser, slime ball…and the list goes on and on.
The New York Times, last month, documented, ‘487 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter:.’
‘On August 3 Katy Tur, a news anchor on MSNBC, revealed that she had received a threatening message from a Trump supporter, saying, ‘I hope you get raped and killed.’ RawStory
A caller to Cspan has threatened to, ‘shoot Don Lemon and Brian Stelter, if he sees them.’ Mr. Lemon and Mr. Stelter work for CNN.
‘Not the enemy of the people; 70 news organizations will blast Trump’s attack on the media.’ Washington Post
‘For the past 19 months, President Trump’s war of words with American news organizations has been more of a one-sided barrage-at least according to the Boston Globe’s editorial board.’
‘Trump labeled the news media ‘the enemy of the American people’ a month after taking the oath of office. In the year that followed, a CNN analysis concluded, he used the word ‘fake’-as in ‘fake news’, ‘fake stories’, ‘fake media’, or ‘fake polls’,-more than 400 times. He once fumed, the New York Times reported, because a TV on Air Force One was tuned to CNN.’ The Washington Post
When I was a child we had often recited the saying, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones…but words will never hurt me.’
Obviously, the saying was incorrect!
I have found that any, closed, environment that I have been a part of…has the danger of becoming a hall of mirrors.,
You can become a member of a church and so immerse yourself in the teachings and activities of the organization and the personalities of the leaders of the group…that the reflected images that you see have become distorted.
It is easy to become so much an integral component of your employment and the organization that you are part of…that the, once, clear lines of delineation of right and wrong and ethical and unethical…can become blurred and distorted and grotesque.
It is so much easier to listen to what our politicians promise us and assure us of their love and care for us and their concern for us…but it takes effort to examine to ensure that the rhetoric matches their works.
We are told that tariffs are good for the country and are returning jobs to the United States.
But, if we are gaining one job…and loosing five…how is the miracle working?
When it is, now alright and smart and the prerogative of our leader, to punish and demean and chastise anyone who criticizes him…and we set back and feel confident and satisfied that those who criticized the great leader…should have known better…who will come to our aid…when the ordained…turns his ire…towards us?
