‘Yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘I don’t know.’
I worked for a company where if someone asked you a direct question, especially a superior, you were required to prefix your answer with one of these three direct responses.
Some couldn’t handle the militaristic approach, and they didn’t last long.
But who can blame them after years of teachers, other employers, and Kinko’s books brainwashing us to think that admitting ignorance is a cardinal sin?
Others welcomed the regimented responses because they increased efficiency. Emails had fewer words, phone calls were shorter, and meetings were rare.
Saying “I don’t know” is also liberating.
Even if the CEO was irritated and asked me a question in front of the whole company and I didn’t know the answer, there was no need to stumble over a 30-second story packed with buzzwords and jargon.
I’d just say, “I don’t know. I’ll find out and email you the answer by 5 PM,” or whatever appropriate timeframe. Boom. Done. Next.
This process is also a great BS detector in everyday life, whether buying a car, chatting at events, or watching a tech bro give testimony.
Of course, politicians and activists are often the worst offenders of giving BS indirect answers. Still, two protesters pleasantly surprised me this week when they admitted they had no clue as to what they were protesting:
While many people are clowning these girls into oblivion for the clip, which I admit is funny, I applaud their honesty.
I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m not joining protests either.
Then again, I don’t really give a rip.
I care for the people caught up in the violence, of course, its terrible. But I’m sick of my tax dollars funding these wars while everyday Americans struggle to buy groceries.
The same goes for Ukraine and Russia.
We hoped to get direct answers during the Tucker/Putin interview, but when the president started with, “Back in the 8th century,” the conversation further proved that this is a highly complicated regional conflict where we have no business.
We don’t care about what happened 900 years ago in Russia as it relates to daily life in 2024.
We care about the American border, the economy, and crime in the present day.
And I’m happy to admit I don’t know what to make of the George Floyd 2.0 currently brewing, where a black man died in police custody last week.
Great. Just in time for the Summer of Love 2.0.
Based on this short clip, people are already shackled to one side or the other without the full story, per usual.
As for me, I’ll free myself.
Instead of taking a side on the smorgasbord of BS shoved in our faces every day, someone needs to start explaining to us why the answer to everything just happens to screw everyday Americans.
Whether it’s Israel, Ukraine, climate change, or the fight for “social justice,” everything conveniently removes more money out of our checks, grants more power to the government, fuels more riots, and leads to an overall dim future for everyone except the global elites.
The American People are supposed to be the irritated CEO asking questions, and the government is supposed to be the subordinate employee eagerly jotting down a reminder to get us the answers.
Not the other way around.
It seems we’ve forgotten that.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. -Confucious
US Invasion Casualty of the Week: Beverly Page Bourgeois
Beverly was doing yard work at her home in 2018 when a Salvadorian fell asleep at the wheel and ran her over. She died two weeks later.
Page was so beautiful on the outside and even more so on the inside. I have known this family since we were little children and lived across the street from each other. From the beginning Page was an example of how we should treat each other. Rest in peace my lovely friend. -Julie Carden Wine, friend
Brand of the Week: Cast Brew Coffee
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