because the internets are so wide open
Steve got burned on a personal post. Read that link before this post; he lays out a situation completely differant than mine with the exact same results. I don't really do personal posts as much anymore. Someday, I'll get pissed off enough to do one again, but it's caused me considerably more headeache than it's worth.
It's understood that these here internets are an open medium. What will surprise you is where they'll turn up, and how what you'll say in a moment of indescretion will come back to bite you in the ass later on. Sometimes much later on.
I avoid stuff related to my life, except in the most general terms, from experience. If I write something negative about a fellow student, it's going to burn me later on. Almost guaranteed, even if nobody within ten degrees of that person knows about this page.
A big part of it is the way I write...anyone who reads my stuff knows I don't write for halfway. If I'm going for criticism, it's full bore, especially when there's an emotional component to it. Anything less bores me and isn't worth writing. That sounds like a bullshit excuse, and maybe it is; it's not really me, my personality, but it is very much my writing.
I've pissed off family members whom I generally have no problem with; my family has its incompatabilities, which are intensified in stressful situations, but it's never intended as a general condemnation.
Most famously, I spent a very long post on someone I used to work for, who didn't deserve all of it. Some of it? Yes, I think so. I think that there was some seriously bad decisions made along the way there. Problem is, I don't really know who made those decisions. One of the biggest things that used to drive me crazy there was the lack of straight answers, the obfuscation of the real problem. I don't work for them anymore, but I still don't know who made what decision and why. I do know that I was well within company standards, and have the paperwork to prove it if I cared to try.
But the manager that I focused on at the time didn't deserve everything I fired at her. I used to say, when I worked there, that I had seen bad managers in that place, and she was far above them. There was a rumor going around for a while that her boss was going to get rid of her, and I was one of the most adamant protestors. I stand by that; she, flaws included, did a very solid job there; anybody else they got was guaranteed to be worse. Potentially much worse. I consistently defended her against many accusations; even, occasionally, where I thought she was wrong. Because I thought she was a good person and a good manager who shouldn't be tripped over stupid trivial bullshit.
Sucks for me that the same bullshit I defended her against is what led to my eventual departure, at her hands. I don't understand or agree with some of the decisions she made; but I also don't know what exactly was driving those decisions at the time. That, as I said, is what used to piss me off to no end: I didn't know who was saying what and why; I didn't know who was making what decision or what their motivations were. Part of that is company politics, but part of it, I think, is very bad business.
Anyway, I know some of those folks still read this stupid moronpage, so I offer a partial apology. I shouldn't have said many of the things I did, I was incredibly harsh, and I wasn't a model employee. I don't think I warranted the treatment I got in many instances, and I remain unapologetic about them. But I am genuinely sorry for a several of the accusations I leveled here. It was irresponsible on my part.
New disclaimer: What you read here is a personal rantpage. It is often written when the author is under the weight of at least a baker's dozen of PBR. If you are personally offended, write me and tell me so, so I can explain my thoughts. If you don't have the energy to do that, then my opinion obviously isn't bothering you that bad, so get bent already.
It's a simple philosophy, and one I've used both personally and professionally: Tell me what's wrong, or get lost.
