Truth vs. Fact

I recently read a newspaper article about a series of events that I had previously been privy to. I had probably heard and/or seen and/or experienced more about these events than the article writer had prior to writing the article. The article, based on the numerous lengthy, emotional comments left on the internet, evoked an polarizing and emotional response in its readers as well as all involved.
As I was thinking about the article and the responses, it reminded me of the old cliche, "Don't believe everything you read." I find it amazing that as untrusting a society that we are of others (in general), we tend to take newspapers for fact. We make a lot of (false) assumptions by doing so. We assume that the newpaper company, the editor, the writer, and all witnesses and quoters are all being 100% truthful. We also assume that all of those same people were given the right facts and have "done their homework" to attain all of the facts. We may also assume that all of the above are unbiased. (In the article I read, the writer definitely had more intention than simply writing the newsworthy. Its amazing how "reporting the facts" can look so one-sided depending on which facts/truths are reported and which facts/truths are omitted.)
More importantly, I realized the vast difference between Truth and Fact. I liken it, slightly, to the childhood game of telephone, whereas the farther you get from the "horses mouth," the more a message is distorted. The second to last person might be "telling the truth" based on what they heard, but that doesn't make it fact.
And so it is with a reporter or newswriter: unless they witness an actual event themselves (and even then there's no guarantee that FACT will be written, because it will subjectively written based on that writer's interpretation), a reporter/writer of the news is usually getting their information from someone else. When have two witnesses of an accident "remembered" exactly the same thing even though they had witnessed the same accident? So even though the "victim", witness, and reporter all honestly believe they are telling the truth - and maybe they are - that doesn't necessarily mean that what is written in the newspaper is fact.

What I took away from this is that I need to be careful how and what I judge. There have been many times while watching Dateline or 20/20 that I will judge the "villain" in the news story based on what has been shown to me; but I need to realize that I do not have all of the facts and my opinions are based solely on what has been reported to me and what has NOT been reported to me.

I also realized there are a lot of people in our "highly educated town of Madison" that are emotionally reactive, ignorant, and just plain rude, regardless of which side they took.
Here's to hoping I'm not one of them and never become one of them.

Newspaper Title

"Billboard that states, 'Text-messaging causes 11-car pile-up,' causes 11-car pile-up"

Baggage

I recently attended a two hour "seminar" of one of my professors at Edgewood. The topic of the seminar was basically "What personal baggage do we (as therapists) bring into the therapy session, or the 'system' if you will." For example, my professor is very turned off by racism - meaning she doesn't like it and it gets her upset easily when people are being racist. After the 9/11 catastrophe, one of her clients made some very derogatory comments generalizing all middle eastern people. It took all of my professor's energy to not "yell" at her client.

So, it got all of us attendee's minds going about what "triggers" we have. What sets us off? What will set us off? What are we sensitive about? Why? What do we hold important to us? How will we respond? How can we keep from responding negatively, thus turning our client off or damaging the open and trusting relationship?

This got me thinking that we could all benefit from knowing our hot buttons. Society could run a lot smoother if everyone was just a little more introspective.

Consider the parent that yells at a young referee at their child's soccer game or the person who screams out their window (and flashes the bird) to someone who cuts them off while driving down the road. Why do they overreact?
What about yelling at kids or a spouse/partner or an employee?
What about complaining all day about Favre or flooding or who's house gets rebuilt by ABC?
Do people really get that upset about each of those things? Why some people and not others?

As I've stated in previous posts, I think a lot of how people respond to things (including reviews) has a lot more to do with the person responding than the thing or situation they are responding to. I'd venture to say that most emotion is internal and is only elicited by external situations. Almost as if we look for an opportunity to release it. We need the release.

What if everyone knew where their pent up emotion came from, knew a healthy way to release it, and could come up with a successful way to avoid negative/damaging feelings from building up inside them in the future?

McSucks!

I recently purchased a(nother) book from Amazon.com and inside the box, with the book, was a coupon for McDonalds for a free Southern Style (breakfast) Buscuit and a free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich. Today I tried the chicken sandwich for lunch and it was HORRIBLE!

Its gotta be processed chicken formed into the shape of a chicken breast. The "southern style" seasoning is bland and not very tasty. There were two pickels and a slightly buttered bun. That was it. The bun was only good because it was fresh and soft.

I noticed McD is charging $2.99 for the sandwich by itself. I wouldn't get another one if I had another free coupon; it was that bad! It is seriously the worst thing I've ever had from McD.

Crooked Parking

Scenario: You (someone) are circling a parking lot to find a parking stall near a store you are about to enter. The open spot closest to the store (by about 10 spots) is flanked by two cars that are both parked crooked so that their right wheels are over the yellow line to their right. So the car to the left of your spot has its right wheels in "your" open stall. BUT, because the car on the right side also parked on the far right of their stall, there is ample room for you to park there. If you're like the old me, you grumble to yourself about how stupid people can be, but since there is room you decide to pull into that spot - instead of parking 10 stalls farther away from the store - despite the fact that now your right wheels will be over the yellow line too.

At this point, are you any better than the two cars you were grumbling about?

I say, "No." Parking crooked is only going to perpetuate crooked parking for a longer period of time.

Have you considered that these two cars may have parked crooked ONLY because the cars that were there before them were crooked? Have you also considered that when you get out of the store, these two cars will be gone and you will be the "stupid person" who parked crooked? Did you consider that if you would have just parked 10 spots down in the first place, straight parking may have been restored to the entire row after the two crooked cars left?

Now I ask you to think about how this situation may relate to human nature, feedback loops, and change. How do our behaviors in our environments either promote or prohibit change for the betterment or detriment of our environment? Are we satisfied with playing the role of the "grumbler" or would we prefer to be the "changer for better"?

I will be a changer, thank you.