If the shoe fits, criticize it

By my estimation, I have brushed my teeth 35,770 times in my life, give or take. Even with all that practice and work a cavity still sneaks in from time to time. It makes you wonder if I am working hard enough at cleaning my teeth. Maybe I lack the experience necessary to do the job.

I would hazard to guess I have tied my shoes somewhere around 20,000 times in my years. Even with all of that effort, those rascals still come untied a few times each week. Could it be possible the job is just too big for me? On the other hand, maybe I cannot relate to the shoes well enough to keep them tied.

When Chad Morris was fired this week, I must admit I felt a tinge of sympathy for the guy. He came into a tough situation and put forth his best effort but was let go. Now I am not here to say he should not have been terminated. He was obviously struggling to get the job done and his bosses felt a change had to be made. I completely support their decision.

However, what I did not like was how prior to the man's firing the talk radio folks were having a field day criticizing his every move. One week I listened to a man, say, "Morris should play the freshmen quarterbacks. We should see what they can do." Then the following week after the freshmen played the exact same person said, "Morris was stupid to play those freshmen. He threw them to the wolves. He should know better than that."

It is not fair to sit in judgment of someone else's job when you have the luxury of letting your judgment change week to week after you see the results. Hindsight is 20/20 and revolving judgment is evidently forgetful. Morris had done exactly what the talk radio guy had suggested and when it did not work out the radio guy conveniently changed his opinion about what should be done.

In my opinion, Morris tried his best. He worked his hardest and coached the way he knew how. It did not work out and that is too bad. However, if anyone thinks this man wanted to be fired or just gave up I would disagree. No one wants to lose his or her job and I think Morris gave us his all. It just did not get the desired results and that is a shame.

I am completely fine with criticism and questions but let us not switch our view and judgment when we ourselves are proven wrong. Own up to what we say and think. If you said it, admit it and learn from those statements. Changing your view when the narrative no longer supports your opinion is the sign of a weak person.

Thankfully, those critics are not observing my shoes on a daily basis. Because if they were I would probably be viewed as the worst shoestring mechanic in the free world. Heck maybe I would be asked to leave my shoes and have to walk this world in bare feet, until someone else deemed me worthy of a second chance at tying shoes.

"Criticism is the disapproval of people, not for having faults, but having faults different from your own."

-- Unknown

Editorial on 11/17/2019

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