say what you’ll do, and do what you say
It might come as a big relief to most people that the NYC MTA did not go on strike today, like they threatened they would. That’s the not the case for me. I’m actually extremely disappointed, for 2 reasons:
(1) I was looking forward to a small dose of chaos. A little chaos every so often goes a long way toward snapping people out of the robot-like routines they get stuck in. Shake things up, get the blood flowing, think about things from a new perspective. I realize I’m probably in the minority with this one, but I’ve never minded holding the minority opinion.
(2) The MTA threatened to go on strike at a definite time if there was no contract resolution. That time came, with no contract resolution, yet the strike did not occur. I do realize things are sometimes said as scare tactics, for better or for worse, especially during heated negotiations. It happens in politics, in the business world, in the streets, in marriages, and in every other relationship that exists. But what good is a scare tactic if there’s nothing to back it up? Personally, I have absolutely no patience nor tolerance for empty threats. The same goes for empty promises, which are even more destructive than empty threats. If you say you are going to do something, then do it. End of story. If you are either not seriously prepared to do it, or not seriously capable of doing it, then do not say it. Especially when the stakes are so high and the audience is so many.