Leanne Bright Cloudman

It seems that a large portion of the general public expects perfection from everyone except themselves. It’s amazing actually. If someone makes a mistake, in many cases, the mistake was made because of the actions of someone else. We are quickly becoming a society of children. “He hit me first,” is the natural battle cry.

We forget, all of us, that we are all human, entitled inherently to make mistakes. Yes, sometimes our mistakes are inadvertent, due to what we have been told or due to our perceptions. Sometimes our mistakes are just plain stupid, simply because we have a “whatever” moment, but the bottom line is we all make mistakes. That is one of the qualities that make us human.

This said, why do some human beings pitch such an all out hissy fit when another human being makes a mistake?

It has been written, let he who has no sin cast the first stone. Maybe those should be words to live by. No, wait, they are! Directly from the operations manual provided for human beings by their manufacturer, also known as The Bible. Maybe most of us are going by the philosophy of one of my ex-husbands, “if all else fails, read the destructions.” (No, that is not a misspelled word.)

Many years ago, in another life, I played music for a living. At times, the band played behind a barrier of chicken wire that was meant to protect the musicians should things start to fly through the air in shear enjoyment of the entertainment. There are times now that I wish I could write the paper from behind a steel reinforced wall that would keep out of the stones of those who are so much more perfect than I could ever hope to be.

When errors cause harm, naturally the one who caused them is apologetic. That apology should be accepted and life should go on, because everyone makes mistakes. The world is not going to end, the sun will rise tomorrow, we all must continue to pay taxes and die. And we all will continue to make mistakes. I make more than my share, so for everyone who’s been affected that I haven’t been married to, I’m sorry. For everyone who wants to call the Yadkin Ripple and have a hissy fit over the phone, ask for Leanne. What ever it was, I can guarantee you, my wonderful officer manager, Kara, didn’t do it.

Ready? duck!