Today we take the blog international….
Here’s the thing about priceless works of art: Time tends to mess with them. You know, annoying things like sunlight, chemicals floating around in the air, and oils from human skin can do a real number on artwork that has been hanging around for centuries.
And today’s winner for “Mistakes in the News” is a little old lady in Spain who took it upon herself to fix one such painting…Click the link to see how that turned out.
Here’s a query: If we were to map every instance of a “mistake” being made, which state would win? Which city or region for that matter. And remember we’re talking about errors in judgement here…so would a high instance of mistakes mean that that region has a reputably low amount of character. These are the questions that keep our interns busy during the work day.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/
I was telling someone about this blog today, and they challenged me with the following question: “Is the blog enough?” Meaning, when people send in their postcards, is that supposed to fully abdicate them from their wrongs. I don’t know that I have an answer for that. I guess its on a case by case basis. But I know that its meant to start the process of asking for forgiveness. Here’s someone else’s thoughts on the matter:
http://www.wisebread.com/fixing-mistakes-7-steps-for-any-situation
Thanks for reading…
mis·take/məˈstāk/
Noun: An action or judgement that is misguided or wrong: “coming here was a mistake.”
Verb: Be wrong about.
As the postcards continue to stream in to our PO box like those small sand-crabs revealed as the most recent wave pulls back to the deep, the office staff feels that a clarification needs to be communicated to our adoring readers; especially those who are considering become willing and anonymous participants in this experiment.
That clarification follows: Looking at the definition provided at the beginning of this post should provide a clearer picture of a key component that is hopefully included in the examples that are mailed to us. Specifically an ERROR IN JUDGEMENT is a vital part of qualifying for a posting. Even better when said ERROR is then covered up or lied about.
The post card relating the story of the person who raised money for a pizza party, and then kept it for themselves is a great example. There was not necessarily malice in making this mistake, but once the person realized that they had fucked up, they did nothing to resolve it. How long did this mistake eat at their conscience? How many sleepless nights did they endure, staring at the ceiling, racked by the fear that one of their classmates would suddenly remember contributing to this cause and then never reaping the rewards (in this case, reaping the pizza…and if that isn’t the name of a band, it should be.)
But digressions aside…Those are the types of “Mistakes” that are most interesting to us for the case of this blog. Those gaffes in action that were seemingly harmless, had they been admitted to. But as time passed, they grew in magnitude and perhaps one or two more lies were thrown on top of them to keep the ruse intact. And we’re still waiting for the high powered CEO or politician to send in a postcard admitting to mistakes that caused millions of dollars of lost revenue or (ahem) sending our fighting boys overseas to a join a fight that they really didn’t need to jump into.
Does that clear things up? We hope so. Thanks for reading…
Once again, our prestigious staff has fully admitted to their empathy with the sender of this card. How many of you, dear readers, can claim to being on one side or the other of this mistake? Or in many cases…both? But how many of you could then say that later, once your vision was cleared of irrational emotions and all the other BS that goes along with being in a relationship, you admitted your mistake and asked for an apology? And we’re talking about being truthful in that apology…not some half-assed attempt to instigate a booty call with your ex.
Anyway…whoever you are, and we know there are a lot of you out there…Apology accepted.
Wow. Can you imagine if this person had been found out? Had someone asked where that money had gone, this person would have been thrown up in front of the class as though they were naked and didn’t know the answer to the teacher’s question. All of their classmates eyes boring into them.
Hopefully this postcard makes them feel a bit better, just in case they don’t ever get to repay it.
