THAT Shiznet dont look right

That Shiznet doesn’t look right.

Its all in the optics

I find myself with an hour on my hands, so I was going to wait, but since I have the time here goes.

Let’s start with a couple of scriptures just for background.

The 1^st Romans 14:46 Do not let your good be spoken as evil.

The 2^nd 1^st Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil

The way Optics is meant in this offering is as follows.

(typically, in a political context) how an event or course of action is perceived by the public.

"The issue itself is secondary to the optics of the Democrats opposing this administration in a high-profile way."

Ok that being said, let's start. The Vice President of the United States has a stated policy of never being alone with a member of the opposite sex in an official or unofficial meeting without the presence of his wife.  It would seem in the Post Weinstein era that would be reasonable. (especially for a politician) It, however, in this world of Me2 seen as not inclusive.  Every good boxer knows the instructions “defend yourself at all times” and in these times not only do you not have to be there to be accused with the supposed accuser having no recollection of an incident one can find themselves in a world of hurt not knowing the cause. Motive yes cause smaybe.  If the accuser doesn’t know then (who do?)

I was a former NCO had the displeasure of counseling a female airman for misconduct. There was no way in the world I was going to do that alone. I would enlist the support of the highest-ranked female NCO in the unit to sit in on the counseling session.  The NCO sat out of the direct line of sight of the person being counseled, and when the meeting was complete, I asked. Is that about it, Sarge? To which the Sergeant would answer, that’s just fine.  The look on the counseled person was priceless. You see the person in question would play that victim card, and I was not going to be the subject of that mess.

Some of us have an innate desire to help people. When it’s a person of the opposite sex, it gets complicated.  It could not look quite right. There can be a legitimate need out there that one is uniquely able to meet. Just know in those exceptional cases where a person’s gender is involved it can just look funky. Of all my friends at work, less than 5 get hugs the rest get fist bumps. (until such time as that becomes taboo too) The qualification is that I have worked closely with them for over 2 years, they know my wife, and we have mutual respect for each other finally they are not single.  My job requires me to see a lot of people in and out of my office. Some ground rules (even though unspoken) are necessary.  Be ready for the outside comments by friends, family, and even enemies on how it looks on the outside looking in. My measuring stick is. If you saw this on TV, would one reasonably think that the person has lost their mind? Do we have a jerry springer incident about to occur? If the answer is no, then press on if the answer is yes, be on the lookout because you may not know who is looking and more importantly thinking.