Passion and patience
Passion is a great thing. I love passionate people and try to give them as much exposure for their causes and concerns as we can manage through space in the newspaper.
Sometimes dealing with passionate people reminds me of a saying I heard once, "patience is the only virtue."
Ah, if we could all balance our passion with patience.
One of the drawbacks of the new instant world that the Internet and other communication tools have provided is that people expect instant. And, if they want to, they can fairly well control the input that reaches them, spending most of their time in online worlds with their friends and other like-minded people who agree with them -- not necessarily the best combination for personal growth.
But instant certainly works for the passionate. Of course, some of the "instant" posts that people make on websites remind me a lot of yelling at the television. It makes you feel better, maybe, but what's the point.
And, as my children regularly remind me, I'm getting old.
I liked the days when people read newspapers, took their time to think about what they read, and responded with letters to the editor.
Yes, even in those days you heard from some hot-under-the-collar folks who called up the office or even came in to share their thoughts.
As I said, I love passionate people, and I even like to get those phone calls and visits, even when people don't agree with what has been published.
What I hate (even I ought to get to be passionate sometimes, don't you think?) is when folks:
1. Never read the paper except when something concerns them personally and then feel free to judge what they read as if it was the whole -- what I mean by this is assuming that the one article they read is the whole of our coverage and judging our efforts at that.
2. Want to kill the proverbial messenger. Meaning the reporter or editor. Please notice those words, "according to" and "so-and-so said." In my opinion, our job at the newspaper is to report, not advocate. If someone has a position that others do not agree with, we report the various sides of the story -- it's not our job to judge who is right or wrong and silence anyone.
3. Provide us with information -- or their opinion -- and then tell us they "don't want to get involved" when we ask for their name. That works fine in the gossip mill, but not so good in the newspaper. I always wonder, if you care enough to call us up and tell us all about it, why don't you care enough to be public about your concerns?
Of course, there is an answer to that last question.
One of the reasons that people don't want to be publicly express their opinion in a forum where their real name will be used (an old-fashioned newspaper rather than some "instant" anonymous communication), is that some of those passionate people will attack them. And that's a shame.
But, back to patience. Since I think it may indeed be the only virtue.
Dear passionate people, I will try harder to remember that there are good reasons for passion in our world -- and I will hope that some of you might learn to balance your passion with patience.
CLAUDIA ELLIOTT is editor of the Tehachapi News. Send email to: celliott@tehachapinews.com or call 823-6360.
