Well-intended

It was just a few months ago that the caller had these well-intended words of wisdom for yours truly: “You’re too damn impatient when it comes to progressive community change. There are about 300 to 500 movers and shakers in this region who are able to make things happen. You’re not among that group, so you’ll have to take my word for it when I tell you that the group is interested in progressive change but not at the pace you’d like. So just calm down and don’t show your ass by insisting that we movers and shakers are failed leaders because we aren’t moving and shaking at the speed you deem necessary.”

I’m paraphrasing what the well-intended caller (WIC) told me, but not by much.

To be sure, WIC is a mover and shaker, albeit relatively new to the mover and shaker group. And with further surety, I was most moved and shaken by the caller’s admonition.

Attempting to always operate under the safe assumption that we humans have an amazing capacity to convince ourselves of things that aren’t true, the self-doubts quickly emerged. Maybe my rants about this region suffering from a lack of inspired leadership were over the top. Could it be that the region’s civic and business leaders were on the right track for positive change and I was being a reckless pain in the backside? What if folks about to do big things were briefly sidetracked because one idiot journalist was too dang stupid to understand that the progress in motion needed nurturing instead of nagging? What would be the best way to publicly apologize for being such a dolt and then quietly slip off to work the remainder of my life at a Wal-Mart in Helena, Mont.?

What followed was anger. Initially it was directed at myself. “What the &*%$ is my problem?” was the unescapable question hovering like a nagging gnat in my gnoggin.

Seriously, the self-review took a few days; the admonition was carefully considered.

What followed was peaceful acceptance. It was directed outward. “Who the &*%$ does WIC think he/she is?” was the humorous and rhetorical question buzzing around my head like the merry chirping of Mockingbirds.

How nice to think of the enjoyable retort afforded if I’d been a little more quick on my mental toes when WIC delivered the original admonition.

Such might be the paraphrasing of the wished-for retort: “I sure appreciate the well-intended guidance from a member of the moving and shaking crowd. Really, I do. But please know I’ve been watching you movers and shakers for more than 17 years — or several years more than you’ve been in town. So you’ll have to take my word for it that the moving and shaking is far too often replaced with talking and posturing. And you should also know a generation is emerging that is danged tired of of a condescending leadership group that mistakenly believes its slow progress will be rewarded with respectful patience. The region’s paternalistic culture was buried several years ago. The days of respectful patience for movers and shakers is over. You 300 to 500 movers and shakers should know that you are not moving at necessary speeds, and that folks like me will be damned before we let the world pass us by just because you can’t get your collective moving-and-shaking asses in the right gear.”

Or something like that.

And I’ve said all that to say this: The owners and staff of The City Wire don’t intend to follow the tired old rules of journalism that would prevent us from being an aggressive advocate for regional progress. We’ll be more than happy to let the traditional media outlets pretend that their precious objectivity is more valuable than being a responsible community booster. Not us. Not for a second.

We’ll certainly not shy away from pointing out regional weaknesses or economic problems or the goofiness committed by a local government. Likewise, we will seek with similar ferocity and passion to ensure that the many individuals and organizations fighting daily for regional betterment are recognized. We at The City Wire are wholly convinced that what is wrong with this region is no match for what is right with the capabilities of the people and institutions of this region.

Our errors, you should know, will find at their core an operating policy built around being too damn impatient with efforts at regional progress. It is most certain that we at The City Wire are not connected internally to the 300 to 500 regional movers and shakers, but it is with further surety that I believe a population willing to challenge the movers and shakers are connected externally to The City Wire.

If we push too hard, please know Kind Reader, it is the result of well-intended concern (WIC).