Normal? Questions & Sisters
Hello there my somewhat frozen readers! If you're in the Northeast USA you know what I'm talking about today. As I sit across from an early morning fire in the woodstove to warm my body enough to type- I pondered several things. In the course of the last week I've had discussions both business and personal and tried to explain what is normal for me. I was trying to explain my reality, thought processes and work ethic. I'll share more later. The idea of "normal" has been a topic of great debate across time, and what is normal for me very apparently was not the same to most.
Accoring to the trusty Webster's dictionary, normal ; Conforming to a type or standard or regular pattern. Okay- I'm good with that definition and my great friend Nicole has expressed to me that I'm highly regimented- so I definitely conform to a regular pattern. A further definition is Characterized by average intelligence. Good so far. However, nothing seemed to be "normal" this past week. I am very direct, I have no time for the gray areas, particularly in business. Everything is plainly black and white, on the right or the left...or whatever metaphor you prefer- and I'm big on metaphors too.
There was an issue I had to address, very directly of course as there's no time to have to redefine what I really needed. Well, that is my normal mode. The issue that blew into a forest fire (metaphor, see, I did warn you) was that information was collected and passed to me that was inacurate, what some may call "fudged." I call it dishonest- and I did, directly and pointedly to the person and also to the others that were copied. I had reached my limit with the inacurate and dishonest reports. They were so inclined to share with a few others proud of the so-called success so my response was to everyone.
Well, some people don't like my normal and apparently putting purposefully inaccurate data in a report is not showing a lack of honesty to them. Hey, I just needed to point out that accurate and honest in this case were synomymous. My other normal is that I don't back down and I'm very loud - so trying to talk over me will make you deaf and hoarse in short order. While life didn't grace me with height, I was given a genetic bullhorn. The discussion degenerated quickly into a high volume volley before I ended what should have been a quick discussion. Y'know, like "alternative facts" are called lies by everyone else, including me. Do it right or don't do it at all. Discussion over.
One of my colleagues said, "you know, I appreciate your approach for efficiency, I never have to question what you need, what you mean or what you want done...but dude, you're not normal." My response, as it long has been is that my idea of normal is just unusual for many. Unusual eh? Hello, Mr. Webster, definition please? Unusual; uncommon, offbeat, unique and then there it was in plain text- Not Normal.
I accept all of those, and in the course of the most recent years of my life, to do a reality check I only needed to consult two people. My friends Paula and Jill. Paula is very direct like me, hasn't met a moment when she felt her opinion needed to be re-shaped in the nearly 25 years I've known her. Jill is like the mean little sister I never had...or wanted, growing up. I love them both dearly.
To Paula, it's not that I'm not normal but my life is extraordinary, and yeah, that was another of Webster's synonyms too. Jill, well she never waivers for a moment to share her opinion and on several occassions has said "You're not normal. Nothing about you is normal. If I didn't know you and everything about you, then the things that have happened and things that you've done would be absolutely unbelievable-- and yet I know that its all true because we've all lived it with you! Nobody else has that stuff happen to them. You're definitely not normal ." There is a little bit of Forest Gump to the Answerman, albeit in a different and much less historic way.
I have said on many occassions that I think that sisters share the closest bond. I've seen that in my own house as the little question marks that I raised are my daughters and the "grand interrogative" is my older daughter's daughter. The three of them together are like links in a ship chain. The fact that I never had biological sisters growing up makes the close female friends like Paula, Jill and Nicole important. Some think its unusual that I have such close female friends, but I am so Whoomp! there it is!
Sometimes I need a sisterly opinion. I told Jill that just this week. Webster declared that beyond the obvious 2 females who have one or two parents in common, a sister is also defined as; A girl or woman who is regarded as a comrade. Cool, so then they really are like sisters to me (and now I know that comrade has an "e" on the end too).
But hey Mr. Webster, what's a comrade? An intimate friend or associate. Inimate? No, whoa- Mr. Webster these are sisters dude, y'know, s-i-s-t-e-r-s, as defined above. C'mon man! Intimate! Now that is just not normal! Aha, but Intimate, according to Webster's is merely to make kown publicly. I can breathe now because we all do make known publicly that we are close friends, y'now... because its normal.
The Answerman says "Be honest- always. Be direct but not hurtful. Whatever is normal to you should be acceptable to your friends and sisters in life because they are real human beings that will be honest with you. We are alll on this earth a short while so don't waste time with inefficiencies, be extraordinary, even it it is unusual"
Accoring to the trusty Webster's dictionary, normal ; Conforming to a type or standard or regular pattern. Okay- I'm good with that definition and my great friend Nicole has expressed to me that I'm highly regimented- so I definitely conform to a regular pattern. A further definition is Characterized by average intelligence. Good so far. However, nothing seemed to be "normal" this past week. I am very direct, I have no time for the gray areas, particularly in business. Everything is plainly black and white, on the right or the left...or whatever metaphor you prefer- and I'm big on metaphors too.
There was an issue I had to address, very directly of course as there's no time to have to redefine what I really needed. Well, that is my normal mode. The issue that blew into a forest fire (metaphor, see, I did warn you) was that information was collected and passed to me that was inacurate, what some may call "fudged." I call it dishonest- and I did, directly and pointedly to the person and also to the others that were copied. I had reached my limit with the inacurate and dishonest reports. They were so inclined to share with a few others proud of the so-called success so my response was to everyone.
Well, some people don't like my normal and apparently putting purposefully inaccurate data in a report is not showing a lack of honesty to them. Hey, I just needed to point out that accurate and honest in this case were synomymous. My other normal is that I don't back down and I'm very loud - so trying to talk over me will make you deaf and hoarse in short order. While life didn't grace me with height, I was given a genetic bullhorn. The discussion degenerated quickly into a high volume volley before I ended what should have been a quick discussion. Y'know, like "alternative facts" are called lies by everyone else, including me. Do it right or don't do it at all. Discussion over.
One of my colleagues said, "you know, I appreciate your approach for efficiency, I never have to question what you need, what you mean or what you want done...but dude, you're not normal." My response, as it long has been is that my idea of normal is just unusual for many. Unusual eh? Hello, Mr. Webster, definition please? Unusual; uncommon, offbeat, unique and then there it was in plain text- Not Normal.
I accept all of those, and in the course of the most recent years of my life, to do a reality check I only needed to consult two people. My friends Paula and Jill. Paula is very direct like me, hasn't met a moment when she felt her opinion needed to be re-shaped in the nearly 25 years I've known her. Jill is like the mean little sister I never had...or wanted, growing up. I love them both dearly.
To Paula, it's not that I'm not normal but my life is extraordinary, and yeah, that was another of Webster's synonyms too. Jill, well she never waivers for a moment to share her opinion and on several occassions has said "You're not normal. Nothing about you is normal. If I didn't know you and everything about you, then the things that have happened and things that you've done would be absolutely unbelievable-- and yet I know that its all true because we've all lived it with you! Nobody else has that stuff happen to them. You're definitely not normal ." There is a little bit of Forest Gump to the Answerman, albeit in a different and much less historic way.
I have said on many occassions that I think that sisters share the closest bond. I've seen that in my own house as the little question marks that I raised are my daughters and the "grand interrogative" is my older daughter's daughter. The three of them together are like links in a ship chain. The fact that I never had biological sisters growing up makes the close female friends like Paula, Jill and Nicole important. Some think its unusual that I have such close female friends, but I am so Whoomp! there it is!
Sometimes I need a sisterly opinion. I told Jill that just this week. Webster declared that beyond the obvious 2 females who have one or two parents in common, a sister is also defined as; A girl or woman who is regarded as a comrade. Cool, so then they really are like sisters to me (and now I know that comrade has an "e" on the end too).
But hey Mr. Webster, what's a comrade? An intimate friend or associate. Inimate? No, whoa- Mr. Webster these are sisters dude, y'know, s-i-s-t-e-r-s, as defined above. C'mon man! Intimate! Now that is just not normal! Aha, but Intimate, according to Webster's is merely to make kown publicly. I can breathe now because we all do make known publicly that we are close friends, y'now... because its normal.
The Answerman says "Be honest- always. Be direct but not hurtful. Whatever is normal to you should be acceptable to your friends and sisters in life because they are real human beings that will be honest with you. We are alll on this earth a short while so don't waste time with inefficiencies, be extraordinary, even it it is unusual"
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