I haven't been able to find many good aviation related Blogs; especially ones focusing on air traffic control. One would think ATC was some kind of arcane and esoteric profession or something. Anyhow, when I do come across a good Blog, I like to bookmark it and put a link to the site from my own. You know; share the love. So its disheartening to discover an ATC Blog that, at its best, can be interesting and informative, yet diminishes itself by stooping to sophomoric personal attacks and derision. For me, their obvious capacity to write such things and apparent delight in doing so diminishes the credibility of everything else they put forth.
I've seen this many times before.
Everyone knows the pen is mightier than the sword but it should also be more circumspect. The use of anonymous and childish insults or innuendo to rectify
anything will invariably have the opposite effect. This is bad news - unless one's goal is
not to repair what is broken but rather to make things worse. In the perpetually troubled sphere of ATC labor/management relations; why would anyone, on either side, want to do that? Is pissing in the well that
everyone drinks from such a good idea? You decide...but take the long view on this one folks.
© NLA Factor, 2010
11 comments:
Um, are you going to tell us the name of this blog, so we can decide?
No, because I don't want to prejudice anyone going in. I believe every blogger has the right to print what they want and every reader has the right to their opinions about it. My opinion on the merit of personal attacks was formed during the runup to the '81 strike when a lot of it was going on. It wasn't helpful then and it still isn't. My opinion. I still believe in the principle that if you're not part of the solution; you're part of the problem.
If you happen onto a Blog that seems to fit the genre I describe, you should decide for yourself whether its constructive or not.
Thanks for reading and for your comment. ~NLAF
OK I understand. Actually there are quite a few ATC-centric blogs that fit the description (I won't name them either)...I was just wondering if one particular one stood out for you.
BTW just discovered your blog the other day and I enjoy it quite a bit. I went to basic training at Fort Bragg NC in the summer of 1973 and spent a fantastic holiday weekend in Myrtle Beach, lots of great memories. Plus I grew up in Pascagoula MS, learned to fly there, father was retired USAF B-52 pilot, so spent a lot of time at Keesler too. We may have crossed paths on the beach, who knows?
Hah! Keesler! What a hoot! They gave us a booklet of "Off Limits" establishments when we arrived for ATC school. That booklet became our after hours road map. Good times my friend, good times.
Boy, no kidding. Some of (most of?) the really active ATC blogs are mainly useless carping seemingly driven by some totally inexplicable sense of entitlement ("Well, of COURSE we should all make more than a Supreme Court justice!") or the notion that anybody not connected to a scope with a headset must be totally clueless dead weight. Gets old in a hurry. Thanks for writing something a bit more balanced - it's refreshing.
I suppose its human nature to want more respect, better compensation and more competent leadership. But by whining and taking cheap shots at those who could help change things (even if they deserve it), we're only stacking the odds against ourselves. Its like insulting a waiter for bad service and expecting him to treat you better next time. Take the high road. Engage them on a professional level; as you'd expect them to engage you. Don't alienate them.
Thanks for reading and for your comments. Much appreciated!
~NLAF
Hmm that's interessting but to be honest i have a hard time understanding it... wonder how others think about this..
Haw! One of my ole' team supes used to say the same thing about the way I controlled traffic. I told him I'd work on it. My Blog posts may be equally baffling. I'm working on that too.
The Blog I referred to in this particular post was also interesting but sometimes hard for me to understand. Anyway, the Blog seems to have gone missing. Maybe the author got a book offer.
Thanks for reading and for your comment.
~NLAF
Genial fill someone in on and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you as your information.
why not:)
Although it has been a while since I wrote this piece, I’ll stand by my original thoughts on that long defunct blog. Having worked under and lived through an earlier era of ever escalating and uncompromising rhetoric from both sides of the bargaining table, I can tell you one thing for certain. When the game was over, nobody really won. In fact, it could honestly be said that everyone lost. That's "why not." (See my post titled “Pyrrhic Victory”).
I also understand there will always be people on both sides of an issue who enjoy fomenting discontent among their peers; be they labor or management. We’ve all known those who actually hope to “make things worse” and selfishly go about the task of doing just that. Hiding behind a cloak of anonymity insulates them against personal accountability and any adverse blowback from those who may disagree with their ideas and/or methods of disseminating them. Sweet.
Forget the “personal attacks and derision.” It may take a while but honesty and mutual respect will ultimately win the day. That's "why not."
Thanks for asking though.
Cheers - NLAF
Post a Comment