another favorite saying of mine is...

kind of crude, but i like it cuz it reminds me not to push others around just because i might wake up one day thinking i am bigger, smarter, or better than someone else. and the saying is...

"you think you are hot shit in a beer mug, but you are really only luke warm diarrhea in a leaking dixie cup"...ok. so i learned this one as a stupid, crass kid but really, it is kind of a smart thing to think about when we feel the need to start telling other people what they should be doing and how they should be doing it because they are obviously too stupid to figure it out for themselves.

take janice and mo today. they were telling me what they think about where we should put the shed. we did not agree. we argued back and forth and we finally came to an agreement on where was the best place for the shed. but no where in those discussions was there the feeling that anyone was smarter or bigger or righter or had more power. it was three people voicing opinions, and presenting options, and pointing out problems and then figuring it out. and that is why i like both of them so much, they are blunt, and honest, and strong and say what they need to say just like i do. and even when we each think we are right, none of us are arguing just for the sake of winning. because winning means someone else loses. but working out the best solution means everybody wins.

and our argument today was about something we were all involved in trying to accomplish at saints...it was NOT about telling someone else what to do or how to do it at someone else's rescue. every time i hear the party line on she should be doing this, or did you hear she was doing that, and it should be done like this, and it is bad to do it like that...half of me wants to scream and the other half wants to laugh. for goodness sakes, if you happen to have all the answers, then please go on out there and fill your boots.

humans always think they know it all. we always think we would do it better and we really like to tell everyone how good it would be if it was us doing it.

hence my saying about hot shit and luke warm diarrhea. i know most of the answers for saints, and if i don't know them, i will find them with the help of the people that i trust to help me. i don't know any answers for anyone else out there, i don't live their lives, i don't do their jobs, i don't walk in their shoes. i am hot shit at saints, and i am luke warm diarrhea out in the rest of the world.

but even hot shit at home appreciates the help of two really good friends, both with a vested interest in saint petunia and helping to figure out the best place to put tunie's new home.

there is a difference between arguing to accomplish the best that you can, and power brokering to knock someone down so you can stand taller. in rescue you really get the opportunity to see the power plays, you can see the manipulation, and great big sticks wrapped up politely in seemingly reasonable reason. but those great big sticks are not for finding solutions, they are for knocking your opponent right out of the ring.

mo and janice are just like me...none of us care about being right, we just care about getting it right, cuz getting it right will be right for tunie.