By Niki Turner
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“ Be honest. Look for areas where you can admit error and say so. Apologize for your mistakes. It will help disarm your opponents and reduce defensiveness.” ~ Dale Carnegie
As soon as one party goes on the defensive, positive forward progress grinds to halt. Each side is forced to make concessions to come to an agreement and in the end no one is satisfied with the outcome.
Carnegie’s words are wise ones to abide by in any relationship, but perhaps especially in government. When government—local or national—gets gummed up with a bunch of egos on the defensive, we’ve got trouble, because those folks are no longer representing us, they’re looking to protect themselves.
Here’s a question to ponder: Isn’t somewhat sexist to only provide examples of proper dress code for the girls in a community?
Perhaps it’s because I raised more boys than girls, but I can think of myriad ways the male of the species can dress just as inappropriately as the females. Perhaps not in the same hyper-sexualized sense, but still inappropriate for the occasion.
What message are we sending to our daughters by making them out to be the only gender guilty of wearing subjectively inappropriate attire? Just a thought.
Rangely’s Tank got more national attention this week with an article in the L.A. Times. For many, the Tank phenomenon seems like a new thing, but it’s been in the works for decades. Kudos to those who have stuck it out and kept the faith.
The same goes to all the people who have supported the Meeker Classic all these years. The Classic was written up by both out-of-town judges for the Jammin’ Lamb culinary competition: Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer on her popular HeidiTown blog, and Aspen Times columnist Barbara Platts.
We’re always looking for the next big thing, but I think we need to remember today’s “big things” started small: over coffee with friends, or in an abandoned water tank small-town kids once used as a party destination.