*sigh*

I get exaggerating to make a story better. I do it, my friends do it, my coworkers do it...safe to say probably every does it. And I get people who embellish statistics to support their cause in an impromptu, oral argument. However, show a little respect and at least embellish within the realm of plausibility. And if you really have no idea what you are talking about whatsoever, don't talk. One more thing--if your statistics can be so easily checked as to open the daily newspaper--any daily newspaper--and see what you are saying is bullshit, then please choose another tactic.

Quotes from my boss today:

"My husband's title one school [i.e. very poor] has just atrocious drug use. Fourth graders shoot up heroin daily!"
My problems with this. One, I think if there was a school in an affluent city with 4th graders shooting up heroin daily, there would probably be at least a news report. Two, if this is true, and the teachers all know it, why isn't it being reported? Three, the freshman in this office is believing this. And four, current street price of heroin is just under $90 a gram. What 4th grader from a title one school, in piss-poor neighborhood, can afford heroin daily? Jesus, if you know nothing about drugs, don't say anything! And if you are going to make something up, at least use something plausible, like methamphetamine or crack cocaine. Really, does anyone use heroin anymore? I thought that shit died out with Kurt Cobain.

"There are knifings there daily! Daily!"
I'll suspend my disbelief that many elementary school children shiv each other daily for now. Let's look at the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual police and hospital reports for knifings, shall we?

Interesting...no reports from this or any other elementary school. There was one report from one high school in the past year. So either she's saying that all these knifings go unreported by the teachers (including her husband), or she's making this up. Again, the office workers seem to eat it up. I really hate this last part. I could deal with the...exaggerations...by simply ignoring her. But by her painting this picture that doesn't exist, and having younger students believe her, she is planting the seeds of fear of a general populace. There is already a problem with students here refusing to see any part of Charleston besides downtown Charleston and the beach. Our office is the office that's supposed to be tearing down those barriers, yet she's unintentionally building them among the very workers who are supposed to be above that.

"I grew up in a tiny town."

She lived in the suburbs of New York. Her dad worked in the city. She recently stated her parents were selling their old house for a million+ [although with her, this could be complete bullshit.] Her neighbors were Whoopi Gullberg, Kevin Bacon, and Jane Curtain. I hate people who try to build a false past to suit their needs. She only mentions her rural past if she's either talking about how she had to work hard to get ahead, explaining why she lacks a knowledge in a subject ("I never knew how to do this when I was growing up! I had to figure it out on my own! You don't learn much like this growing up in a small town!"), or to build a false sense of experience.

My entire county had a population less than 10,000, the closest actual city was 70 miles away, with only rural highways connecting us. Even the closest large town was 30 miles away. And yet I've never used that background to explain away a deficiency of mine. In fact, I don't consider it a deficiency, but a benefit to my upbringing. At the very least it allows me to differentiate myself from most people in this country. Growing up in a truly small town (and one of the poorest counties in the state) never inhibited my intellectual or personal growth. Of course I had parents that read to me, encouraged education, supported me, and I'm not trying to discount that. All I'm saying is that all things being equal (her parents also supported her), using your geographic past to dismiss shortcomings is cheap, especially with that past is a false one.