So I visited White Deer Park last week and wrote about my experience here.  A fellow found my blog and commented on how the gal that I had the bad experience with was perhaps having a bad day or was dealing with other issues when I came on the scene.

I get it.

We all have bad days or perhaps become snarky when we are dealing with issues outside the realm of the issue at hand and the person in front of us gets to take the heat.  Do you know what the right thing to do is after you make a mistake?  You make it right, as quickly and best you can.

If you’ve acted like an idiot, which we all do at times, you simply go back and let whom ever you offended know what your true intentions were and move on.  Yes, its a hard pill to swallow, but its important, unless you want people to remain confirmed that you are in fact an idiot.  The mistake is made when you do nothing.  Or even worse, to do nothing even when you’ve had a chance to do something.  Did you see what happened to Southwest Airlines when they kicked Kevin Smith off his flight for being too fat and were assholes about it?  Or what about when United Airlines would not pay for a guitar they broke?

PR lesson #1 – Don’t let 8,000,000 views of a video take place before making an apology.  It hurts your bottom line.

Well, I assumed that Stephanie would have been made aware of my remarks, given Sean’s apparent affinity for her.  My hypothesis proved to be correct, not by her calling me to let me know what was really on her mind that afternoon or to explain what her true intentions were..

Nope.  I realized that Garner Parks and Recreation knew of my blog post because my father called to ask about something else and after hearing his name they asked him if he was related to me and that they did not like my blog post.

Well done, Garner.  So, you had someone act like a jerk, were made aware of it, and then aired your dirty laundry to a stranger on the phone? Well done.

Do you know what would happen if you worked for a solid company that was making money and did that?  I don’t think I need to spell it out for you..

Why wouldn’t you just call me? I not that hard to get a hold of.

But, I think there is an underlying issue here that needs addressing.  It’s more important than just a single person not acting professional or even an entire department., because I think it is the root of the attitude that I encountered the first time.

Why is it there is such a close mindedness?

Why does one get “No, we don’t do that.” or “Sorry, that isn’t part of the policy.” or “Well, this is just the way it always has been.  No, we aren’t going to try something different.”  I could go on and on.  These responses are the default.

And do you know who gets to reap the results of this attitude?  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US.

Instead of an atmosphere of encouragement and expansion, there is reservation.  Instead of an open door for suggestions, there is a gate closed with bureaucracy and red tape .  Instead of offering alternatives and options, there are denials and dismissing.

We, all of us, even the trolls, bear the burden of this collective mind set.

It really is pretty crummy, because it doesn’t have to be that way.  It is a pity.

I’m going to use this as a lesson to teach myself to be a bit more open minded and accepting of ideas that I might not share.  I owe it to myself, right?  I owe it to my family and my neighbors and my community, right?  I owe it to you, Garner, right?

A good man said it most famously..

Some men see things as they are and say why.  I dream of things that never were and say why not ~ Bobby Kennedy