Good Phone Etiquette Or Arrogant Contempt For Others?

Most everyone by now has been subjected to the annoyance of the cell phone user sitting at the table next to us during a meal constantly mumbling and at times yelling into the phone. It ruins a good meal.

Today it seems that "texting" is replacing the phone conversation but is it any less disrespectful, distracting and annoying? Could a teacher be expected to teach while on the phone texting or while students are sitting in their class texting?
Would a CEO allow constant texting by executives while trying to talk with them about concerns for the company?
Would any reasonable parent giving instructions to their child allow that child to be texting a friend during those instructions?

So is it just ignorance or disrespect that would cause a County Commissioner to sit in a committee meeting and constantly be texting with their phone under the table? This morning in the Legislative Committee a Commissioner sat texting the entire meeting. Twice this commissioner was addressed only to look up from her phone, totally confused as to what the question was.

The amazing thing is this commissioner tried to berate me after the meeting over her texting.

Does Losing A Million Dollars A Year Deserve Reward Or Firing?

If you were the CEO of a business that lost a million dollars a year would you expect to be fired or given a pay increase?
Apparently working for the government means that you do not have to be proficient to keep your job nor do you have to be productive in order to get pay increases.

Consider the situation with the Giles County Ambulance Department. The Director is a nice compassionate man, an excellent medic but a very poor leader. Not only has the service lost an average of a million dollars a year, for the past several years, it has a very disturbing turnover rate for personnel.

It has been proposed that a supervisor with the Ambulance Service and The Director both be given pay increases. Some may question whether a supervisor who is not a paramedic should even be supervising those who are paramedics; others may question whether this supervisor, who reportedly sleeps through his nights on duty thus requiring others to do his job for him, should get a pay increase; Some may question the appropriateness of giving a pay increase to supervisors when other county personnel must do without.
The Director has been recommended for a $2,500.00 pay increase which brings up the question of what specifically has he done or accomplished that would justify such an increase in light of the huge losses suffered by his department. Paying someone over $55,000.00 a year to supervise an unending cash drain on the county is bad enough but to suggest a pay increase before changes are made to better the department, increase personnel morale and the efficiency of operation is simply absurd.

Several questions need to be answered about the Ambulance Service. Why is morale so low? When can the Ambulance Service be expected to at least break even, if not make a profit? So far the only ones making a profit is the collection service that has been contracted with. How did the Service manage to squirrel away almost $72,000.00 that was supposed to go for overtime but is now being used as sort of a slush fund for pet projects? Was this fund over inflated when the requests were originally made; was it under utilized; is it now being used which will cause a severe shortage later?
What is the total amount already spent on the North Station and what is the true estimate of the cost to complete that project?

Already some commissioners are discussing property tax increases and a wheel tax, my question is when will spending cuts be seriously considered? In this time of economic hardship on the taxpayers, high unemployment and increased foreclosures is it even reasonable much less responsible to consider pay increases for anyone especially those who have not made outstanding accomplishments in their jobs.

If Words Have Meaning Should They Also Have Consequences?

So it's shameful to refer to someone's weight in a derogatory manner but it's OK to refer to someone as a "faggot".

It seems that one word is as bad as the other when they are used to hurt, or cause ridicule, etc.

What happened at the chili cook-off was beyond reprehensible and while there may be some debate as to who started what and who was at fault the bottom line comes down to the fact that when a public official is involved in an incident that official has a greater responsibility to behave in a manner that does not degrade their position. Commissioner Harwell's behavior on the clip was not only unacceptable it was criminal and revealed a very small minded person who was willing to verbally bully and intimidate in order to accomplish his goals. Calling anyone a "faggot", as Commissioner Terry Harwell referred to Mr. Hughes, is an incredible act of insensitivity and utter slander against a whole group of people who happen to be different. Would it be acceptable to use slang terms to refer to a cripple person, a mentally challenged person, a black person, Latino, Jewish or Caucasian, etc? There have been a number of elected officials removed from office across the country for using terms less contemptuous.
If any group is ever to overcome being identified with such scurrilously hateful speech they will have to stand firm against such language and demand an accounting.

Do You Think The Elections in Giles County Are Accurate?

This is a topic requested by a reader. It was also requested that a fishing and hunting report would be added. At this time I am not able to include such reports but would be glad to post them if submitted by readers.

Welcome Home!

After two weeks of relaxing and enjoying the warmth and beauty of Sanibel Island, Fla. it was a shock to come home to the cool, very cool of Pulaski. It's always good to come home. Even the fresh brisk air of fall feels good when you're home.