My Neighbor Refuses To Admit Reality
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Please bear with me as I recount a personal, non political story.
Recently I found myself in need of making some repairs on my kids’ swing set in our backyard. Some of the wood was rot, there were weak spots throughout and when the kids played, it bent and swayed. The previous owners did not take care of it and its mere existence was a threat to the safety of kids around the area.
I spoke to a lot of people and there were varying opinions as to how I should fix it. Some suggested that painting over the whole thing to make it look better. Others suggested I only address the few parts that were worn out while others argued I should pull the whole thing out of my yard and let my kids fend for themselves and hope for the best. The latter made me worry. Without a structured environment in my backyard I had concerns that some kids that I did not approve of in the neighborhood might come in and offer my kids entertainment that I did not approve of.
I decided to beef up the foundation and structure of the swing set. I though if I added some material in key places, it would provide enough structural support and time for me to continue on improving on other key parts. Some people did not like this idea. They argued that the swing set was so far gone that adding key supports to allow fixes to be made would not only fail, but might make the swing set worse. Truth be told, those people never wanted a swing set to begin with so no matter what I did, they would be against me.
It turns out that, although it was a lot of hard work, adding the additional supports has made the swing set more stable and safer. I am able to continue making much needed improvements and repairs and the outlook for the set is looking good.
My neighbor, who argued against adding the additional support, really was stubborn about his opinion. I have told him that is seems to have worked and yet he still argues with me and says it will be a failure. For weeks I invited him to come over and see for himself, but he said he was too busy trying to get this promotion at work and that he didn’t have the time. What bothered me was that, although he had not seen the improvements for himself, he still felt that it was ok to tell everyone that my plan was a failure. Eventually he can over for a visit.
As he swung on the previously weak swing set, a swing set that is now safe enough for him to play on; he argued that it did not work. When I pointed out the obvious, that it was a lot better and safer, he went on and on about how it was not the additional support or work that I had done that had made the set more secure. He said that while it may be true that it is technically safer than before, and that he respected my work (I think he was pandering), other factors that were already in motion were the real reason for the improvement.
Why won’t he admit that the addition of materials and work has turned out amazing improvements? He has criticized me before for being stubborn and arrogant and not acknowledging the obvious. Why is it ok for him to be that way?
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he wants to move into my house and push me out of the neighborhood, no matter what.
Well sorry that I decided to post about something non-political… Right?
Cross Posted at Bearing Drift Ohio
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Too bad it looks like your neighbor will likely be elected head of the homeowners association. I think i heard he’s actually campaigning on the fact that he’ll make you take that eyesore of swing set down. And since over 4000 local kids have been killed playing on it, and another 30000+ injured, it seems to be working for him.
Followup - that may come off as snark. Its not. Your original analogy bothers me in that it ignores one of the greatest impacts of the war - the lives lost. By adding it to the analogy, my goal was to help others see why this post bugged me. It was not my intent to make light of people’s sacrifices, the exact opposite really.
Please take note of the obedience Jeremy is showing towards the new Dem talking points…
-Say everything about the war is bad including the surge but quickly pander to those who serve so it doe not look anti-military.
-Talking point two is whenever the success of the surge is pointed out, immediately go back to the pas t and use the whole “We shouldn’t be there to begin with”.
So it is a classic Dem strategy… Damn them if they do, Damn them if they don’t. If they maintain a strategy (ie stay the course) then rant about stubbornness. If they change strategy, declare it a failure in the face of facts otherwise and go back to point one.
Either way though, I was just talking about my swing set… But I appreciate you bringin up this other topic.
Wow - i posted all that? My cover is blown, as my instructions from the Obama campaign were to be more obscure. I hope i don’t get punished by the high command for overstepping. They might not let me know what the new secret handshake is.
Good to see you are concerned about appearing snark
Proof read ?
Proof reading is for the weak
I kid…
So, is this about the war in Iraq, or the administration’s half-assed taxpayer-funded bailout of the housing industry, or the administration’s taxpayer-funded bailout of Bear-Stearns/ Wall Street, or the administration’s less than half-assed taxpayer funded repair work/ support to New Orleans, or the administration’s failed approach to N. Korea, or the administraion’s insufficient support to the government of Afghanistan?
The problem with your post my friend, is that if you take the analogy and apply it to different situations it either makes Obama and/or McCain, and/or the Congress, and/or the Administration look good and/or bad.
Regardless, it’s nice you took the time to build a swing set for your kids. That’s the kind of thing I expect the government to do for the people of Iraq and all Americans. Everyone is entitled to frolic safely on a swing set.
The hard truth is that McCain argued against the flawed Bush strategy for a long time before Bush came around to accept the surge. Most people wanted to abandon Iraq. McCain argued against the conventional wisdom and has been proven right. But the Dems feel they just cannot admit that.
And regarding the argument about whether we should have been in there in the first place, if it was wrong to attack Iraq in 2003, wasn’t Clinton also wrong to bomb it in 1998 on the eve of his impreachment? Why is one somehow okay and not the other?
“That’s the kind of thing I expect the government to do for the people of Iraq and all Americans. Everyone is entitled to frolic safely on a swing set.”
Did Squeaky get a gov’t. grant to fix his swing set?
Before I upset you too much Ragnar, I have no problems with governments–preferrably local ones–building public playgrounds. But when Squeaky was talking about fixing a swing set in his backyard, I’m hoping (and thinking) he and not the gov’t. paid for the repairs.
Have you set a timetable for the withdrawal of those extra supports? I’d suggest the timing coinside with the next time your neighbor swings on the swingset.