TLDR - my plastic bike water bottle was taken by some construction workers and I'd like it back. Should I go full-on Karen or completely let it go?
Long story, since its Friday
On Thursday this week I was doing some interval running at a dam in my area. This location has sets of stairs with each set having ~100' of elevation gain. I like this location for intervals as I can take the stairs walking/jogging and then jog down to the bottom. Each interval is .5mi/~6min if Im enjoying my MOP-AG pace. On the trail back, the last ~100 yards to the bottom of the stairs is a paved service road. While it was just me this day, my friends and I have always put our water bottles on the edge of the service road under a shaded tree so when we stop we are shaded.
For the past 2 years this dam has had construction. They have been working at the generator building at the bottom of the dam. Since this is a very frequented site by walkers due to its beauty and stairs, everything has remained open. I continue to go there, others continue to go there.
So I'm doing my intervals and im like 5 in, so I've been going for almost 30 min. As I turn the corner I see 2 white trucks coming my way. I move my jogging to the grass so they have the entire road to drive. They drive by and I then can see ahead of my that my water bottle is missing. I jog to the location and quick look around. Maybe someone moved it? Maybe it got ran over? I start looking around on the grass and up to the brush. Then down to the water, nothing. WTF? I should add that Thursday this week I was alone at the dam. It was raining and pretty miserable so there was no other walker/joggers present who could have taken it.
My reaction in this moment was pure annoyance. Something as stupid and silly as a water bottle to be taken for who knows what reason. In addition, it all happened within the last 6 minutes. Why on earth would anyone do this? My thoughts were of 2 scenarios:
1. Someone thought it would be funny to annoy a jogger and swiped the water bottle
2. Someone ran over the water bottle by mistake and broke it and then wanted to cover it up
As I continued to think about this the more annoyed I got. Yes, it's true it's only a water bottle. What's also true is someone thought it was OK to take someone else's property with no sense of responsibility or accountability. For example, what if this was a sweatshirt taken? Is that OK? What if it was a wallet or backpack or bike that was taken? Is that OK? We know the answer to the wallet and bike, but where is the line?
Once I couldn't find the water bottle I went to the construction trailer which I am assuming is housed by management overseeing the site. I politely knock on the door and am offered entry. A nice lady is working the desk in the office alone. I politely explain to her my situation, exactly what happened. I politely ask if she could see if someone took my water bottle and if I could have it back. She makes a couple calls, asks a few questions and as reasonably expected, has no answers. I explain to her that while this is just a water bottle, it is important to me and I really just want my property back. She states she will ask around. I ask her if there are video cameras around and she states yes. I ask her if I could see them and she states she will ask. I thank her for the time, I apologize for the inconvenience and situation, but let her know its important to me and Ill be back tomorrow morning to see if they found it. She states she wont be here but some important person will be. I again thank her and leave.
This morning 9am I go down the site and politely knock. I enter and there is a new individual there. I explain my situation and he looks at me like Im crazy as he has no idea whats going on. I ask him if he is in-charge and he explains "he is for now" while others are away. I thank him for his time and let him know Ill be back Monday to check.
More context, while I am a nobody in the world, I am a somebody locally. I am a duly elected official in the town next to the one with the dam which I was jogging in. In my role (as well as other elected officials) I oversee the entire town. I feel I need to note this role is unpaid and completely volunteer. I have influence locally and if I felt like it was necessary, I could exert this influence to try and bring about a desirable outcome, even in a neighboring town. In addition, if I felt a business was wronging or taking advantage of residents, I could make their situation very difficult.
Before someone starts screaming ETHICS, please let me explain. Let me explain from the standpoint of a locally elected official who works in service to residents and business to ensure they are duly represented:
- I believe it is never the right time to do the wrong thing. I believe in personal accountability and responsibility. I believe if someone or something makes a mistake, own up to it and we can work through it. Never hide it.
- I believe if a resident or business in my town is being taken advantage of, it is my job to advocate for them, not ignore them because I do not believe their ask is important.
- I believe culture is important. I believe culture is created through leading by example as well as calling out bad acting as necessary. I believe we must fight for the culture we want. If it was easy, culture would be perfect everywhere.
Before someone starts screaming (like my wife) IT'S JUST A WATER BOTTLE FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS, let me explain my assessment of this situation. Again, this is my perspective which is coming from someone who needs to frequently asses "he said she said" situations before his board. This is part of my role when making a determination of how to use town resources:
- Someone felt it was OK to take someone else's property. Either they thought it would be funny or they ran it over and wanted to cover it up.
- The construction company doesn't care about something their employees did. Or they do care, but are covering it up for whatever reason. They think complacency with other people's property is OK.
I believe the above 2 behaviors are not OK. Here are my examples:
1. Imagine someone broke into one of the construction workers cars and took something from it. For this example, let's say it was a coffee mug. Just a coffee mug, but one which was given to the person by their deceased mother. Would we expect the construction company to take action? Would they look at the video and advocare for their employee? How far would they go for a "coffee mug"?
2. Imagine someone broke into the construction site and took something of significant importance to them. Maybe even something which cannot be easily replaced and needed for their work. Would the construction company expect support from the town and police force to help them get it back? Would they want the town and their resources to advocate on their behalf even though it doesn't impact the town directly?
I share the above 2 examples because I've been in politics for a bit. Not to monologue but people need to be reminded that culture swings both ways, ie everyone needs to work at it. Culture takes a long time, and a lot of thankless work.
In closing, and in my wife's best voice, IT'S JUST A WATER BOTTLE, GET A LIFE! And in my voice, as someone who fights for positive culture for everyone, "do the right thing or face the consequences."
What says slowtwitch?
PS - yes, this is a serious post about a water bottle. Everything I wrote above is true.
PSS - yes, I have a life. I may even represent you and your family. What type of town do you want to live in?
Long story, since its Friday
On Thursday this week I was doing some interval running at a dam in my area. This location has sets of stairs with each set having ~100' of elevation gain. I like this location for intervals as I can take the stairs walking/jogging and then jog down to the bottom. Each interval is .5mi/~6min if Im enjoying my MOP-AG pace. On the trail back, the last ~100 yards to the bottom of the stairs is a paved service road. While it was just me this day, my friends and I have always put our water bottles on the edge of the service road under a shaded tree so when we stop we are shaded.
For the past 2 years this dam has had construction. They have been working at the generator building at the bottom of the dam. Since this is a very frequented site by walkers due to its beauty and stairs, everything has remained open. I continue to go there, others continue to go there.
So I'm doing my intervals and im like 5 in, so I've been going for almost 30 min. As I turn the corner I see 2 white trucks coming my way. I move my jogging to the grass so they have the entire road to drive. They drive by and I then can see ahead of my that my water bottle is missing. I jog to the location and quick look around. Maybe someone moved it? Maybe it got ran over? I start looking around on the grass and up to the brush. Then down to the water, nothing. WTF? I should add that Thursday this week I was alone at the dam. It was raining and pretty miserable so there was no other walker/joggers present who could have taken it.
My reaction in this moment was pure annoyance. Something as stupid and silly as a water bottle to be taken for who knows what reason. In addition, it all happened within the last 6 minutes. Why on earth would anyone do this? My thoughts were of 2 scenarios:
1. Someone thought it would be funny to annoy a jogger and swiped the water bottle
2. Someone ran over the water bottle by mistake and broke it and then wanted to cover it up
As I continued to think about this the more annoyed I got. Yes, it's true it's only a water bottle. What's also true is someone thought it was OK to take someone else's property with no sense of responsibility or accountability. For example, what if this was a sweatshirt taken? Is that OK? What if it was a wallet or backpack or bike that was taken? Is that OK? We know the answer to the wallet and bike, but where is the line?
Once I couldn't find the water bottle I went to the construction trailer which I am assuming is housed by management overseeing the site. I politely knock on the door and am offered entry. A nice lady is working the desk in the office alone. I politely explain to her my situation, exactly what happened. I politely ask if she could see if someone took my water bottle and if I could have it back. She makes a couple calls, asks a few questions and as reasonably expected, has no answers. I explain to her that while this is just a water bottle, it is important to me and I really just want my property back. She states she will ask around. I ask her if there are video cameras around and she states yes. I ask her if I could see them and she states she will ask. I thank her for the time, I apologize for the inconvenience and situation, but let her know its important to me and Ill be back tomorrow morning to see if they found it. She states she wont be here but some important person will be. I again thank her and leave.
This morning 9am I go down the site and politely knock. I enter and there is a new individual there. I explain my situation and he looks at me like Im crazy as he has no idea whats going on. I ask him if he is in-charge and he explains "he is for now" while others are away. I thank him for his time and let him know Ill be back Monday to check.
More context, while I am a nobody in the world, I am a somebody locally. I am a duly elected official in the town next to the one with the dam which I was jogging in. In my role (as well as other elected officials) I oversee the entire town. I feel I need to note this role is unpaid and completely volunteer. I have influence locally and if I felt like it was necessary, I could exert this influence to try and bring about a desirable outcome, even in a neighboring town. In addition, if I felt a business was wronging or taking advantage of residents, I could make their situation very difficult.
Before someone starts screaming ETHICS, please let me explain. Let me explain from the standpoint of a locally elected official who works in service to residents and business to ensure they are duly represented:
- I believe it is never the right time to do the wrong thing. I believe in personal accountability and responsibility. I believe if someone or something makes a mistake, own up to it and we can work through it. Never hide it.
- I believe if a resident or business in my town is being taken advantage of, it is my job to advocate for them, not ignore them because I do not believe their ask is important.
- I believe culture is important. I believe culture is created through leading by example as well as calling out bad acting as necessary. I believe we must fight for the culture we want. If it was easy, culture would be perfect everywhere.
Before someone starts screaming (like my wife) IT'S JUST A WATER BOTTLE FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS, let me explain my assessment of this situation. Again, this is my perspective which is coming from someone who needs to frequently asses "he said she said" situations before his board. This is part of my role when making a determination of how to use town resources:
- Someone felt it was OK to take someone else's property. Either they thought it would be funny or they ran it over and wanted to cover it up.
- The construction company doesn't care about something their employees did. Or they do care, but are covering it up for whatever reason. They think complacency with other people's property is OK.
I believe the above 2 behaviors are not OK. Here are my examples:
1. Imagine someone broke into one of the construction workers cars and took something from it. For this example, let's say it was a coffee mug. Just a coffee mug, but one which was given to the person by their deceased mother. Would we expect the construction company to take action? Would they look at the video and advocare for their employee? How far would they go for a "coffee mug"?
2. Imagine someone broke into the construction site and took something of significant importance to them. Maybe even something which cannot be easily replaced and needed for their work. Would the construction company expect support from the town and police force to help them get it back? Would they want the town and their resources to advocate on their behalf even though it doesn't impact the town directly?
I share the above 2 examples because I've been in politics for a bit. Not to monologue but people need to be reminded that culture swings both ways, ie everyone needs to work at it. Culture takes a long time, and a lot of thankless work.
In closing, and in my wife's best voice, IT'S JUST A WATER BOTTLE, GET A LIFE! And in my voice, as someone who fights for positive culture for everyone, "do the right thing or face the consequences."
What says slowtwitch?
PS - yes, this is a serious post about a water bottle. Everything I wrote above is true.
PSS - yes, I have a life. I may even represent you and your family. What type of town do you want to live in?