Every once in a while it is always good to step back and just think. As I wrote on Monday, I was not connected all last week. I sat around the pool on a cruise ship and thought some. Had a cool refreshing adult beverage or two and thought some more.
One question that popped into my head was – “When did you not speak up, when you know you really should have?”
My first thought went to the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller – “First they came…”
Then I was sitting there thinking that over the past month or so, I have been doing something that I never did in all of my voting years – supporting a candidate with my time and resources.
Then the news hits about Donald Trump’s locker room comments that all men talk about to all other men about their what they would do to women. I go back to my days of being in locker rooms, coaching young men and those locker rooms and frankly any situation that could be related to having “those” discussions. As a coach of young men, it was important for me to stop those discussions in their tracks. Teaching respect! When I was not in charge – I would still speak up or leave the situation. Leaving was not the best choice. I was raised to respect women.
One thing that I really have not spoken up about is in the area of racial issues. I just don’t feel comfortable speaking about it. My experiences in this area is just on the outside looking in. I can see that we are going in the wrong direction. I know I need to do a better job speaking out.
Do you speak up, when you really know you should?
Image via – Copyright: robodread / 123RF Stock Photo
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