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Everyone I know flails around, kvetching and growing despondent, on the way to finding a plot and structure that work. You are welcome to join the club. -- Anne Lamott
Candy Tistadt is married to the Fairfax County, Virginia, public school administrator, Dean Tistadt. She thought she would help her husband.
It started with Thursday's snowfall, estimated at about three inches near Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke. On his lunch break, Lake Braddock senior Devraj "Dave" S. Kori, 17, used a listed home phone number to call Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the county system, to ask why he had not closed the schools. Kori left his name and phone number and got a message later in the day from Tistadt's wife.
That phone call to her husband, left on her home voice mail, prompted this response from Candy on the student's voicemail.
From the article:
Dean Tistadt credited Kori for having the "courage of his convictions to stand up and be identified." He also credited him for causing the high volume of crank calls, not to mention considerable grief and embarrassment for his wife.
"This has been horrible for her," he said, adding that he and his wife both learned a hard lesson about the long reach of the Internet.
Heck I applaud his wife. Too bad she didn't keep the message from the kid on their answering machine. I wonder what the message was that prompted her response?
I think back to days when I was in school and had I called the superintendent and left a message I'd most likely have needed to see a proctologist to remove my fathers boot from my ass.
As for 3" of snow? That would barely be enough to do donuts in my old mustang. I don't even pull out the snowblower for 3" here. :)
Posted by Pale Rider, 1/23/2008 1:07:47 PM
It's not that what she said is wrong. It's how she delivers it. And it's a mistake for her to leave it on the voicemail of a student...
What if she just responded with, "My husband will get back to you on that."
Or, "My husband has made the best decision he could with the facts available. You'll receive notice if there's an update."
A classier alternative.
You know what's funny? You, the un-PC guy, has the initials PR... and to a degree, that's what this is all about. She futzed with her husband's marketing.
Margaret Thatcher said that the veneer of civilization is very thin. We all need to be aware that even our more private moments are no longer that. That's not a good thing, but it is fact.
And you're right - we don't know if the "snotty-nosed brat" left a snotty message to prompt the snotty reply, but those in positions of authority like this don't have the luxury of giving into their baser emotions.
True, it would have been better to not respond, or to just leave a "he'll get back to you message." It looks like her "on" button was pushed which is something I relate to so well. LOL. A better approach would have been to let her husband handle it since it is his job by contacting the parents or the school principal or just ignore the kid (so hard for me to just let that go though).
This is a lesson the kid needs to learn though. In the real world we typically don't leave a message for the CEO of our company if we don't agree with a decision (at least not the worker bees). Even if you are right, there is a certain etiquette to follow, unless you want to be unemployed at the end of the day.
Dear God. I never thought about the initials. PC/PR is so not my style. Any suggestions for a new name? :)
Posted by Pale Rider, 1/23/2008 4:18:41 PM
Keep the name - I love the irony.
It is a good lesson. I'll bet, like the Tistadts, young Dave Kori never forgets this lesson. The lesson is: "If someone yells at me, I'll get back at them by posting it on YouTube and humilate them."
Oh... you meant the "Don't call the administrator" lesson. Yeah, sure... that too.
