When I was a student (both undergraduate and graduate) I worked part-time in the university library as a cataloging assistant. This was before computerized catalogs and involved filing catalog cards into drawers. It was monotonous and also required attention to detail, a job for which I am well-equipped.
During the first week of filing I clumsily knocked a box of thousands of cards, in order, off of my table, spilling them on the floor. My supervisor spotted this and came over quickly as I was about to push the scattered cards together to place back upon the table and commence to sorting them.
Her speed was not from anger but rather to teach a lesson in a teachable moment. She told me to stop and look at the cards on the floor and identify how many of them were still in order. There were five to six bunches that were in order, so that I ended up sorting the bunches into my box and not individual cards, a difference between seconds and hours of work.
It was a really good lesson and she let me know that every assistant had a similar teachable moment, some of which she was able to catch.
Panic guarantees bad outcomes, whether it be caused by minor or major crises. Panic pushes us with feeling but without reason to make bad decisions. I am not perfect but I have worked hard since then to avoid and defer panic until after crises have passed, if only to be someone who makes things better when I'm around.
Evil leaders learned long ago how to weaponize panic, to instill fear in citizens to cause them to be unable to make good choices, offering themselves as the best solutions. It is a hallmark of evil leaders; good leaders are transparent about problems and encouraging of good spirits in addressing them. All else is detail.
It has been three weeks now since Trump was inaugurated, and he and Musk have done dozens of things each day to tear apart our democracy in the USA. Many will be challenged in court, eventually. People of good will resist every day. School officials turning aside ICE agents trying to enter schools and school-buses to abduct children who can't prove their citizenship in particular have been inspiring.
As bad as Trump and Musk are, they wish to be feared even more by folk who believe in our constitution in hope that we panic.
Don't.
Hello Dr. Clark, I am a student that took one of your courses not too long ago. However, I’d rather not share too many identification details at the moment. I just wanted to share a bit. I moved to this country the moment I hit double digits, thus I feel more apart of the U.S. than my country of origin. I’ve went to high school, tutored middle school kids, and helped local elementary schools by building electric powered wheelchairs, all of this for no cost, simply for the desire to help. However, my parents are currently being forced to leave and go back to our country of origin, a place where guns being pointed at your face is an everyday norm. I, in the other hand, might be able to stay, depending on the result of my legal process; however my younger brother, who was born here, will go back since I cannot support both him and I while at school. I am scared and don’t want any of them to go back to such an awful place… My parents have lived here for a decade, we pay taxes, work heavy labor jobs, and while we do face occasional racism and don’t get the federal benefits that citizens often undervalue, we are safer than we were back there. I feel lost.
ReplyDeleteHello and I am so sorry to hear of the Hell you and your family are going through right now. I don't have a magic wand to make it all go away as much as I wish I could. This is a nightmare that I never thought would happen to our country in my lifetime. My thoughts and prayers are for your continued strength to see you through and for continued hope to keep you from giving up.
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