Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/322764
Over Think it 26 www.studentdriverplacement.com June '14 by Dan Baker H ave you ever had someone say something about you behind your back that you found out about later? What did that feel like? Did it make you angry? Did it hurt your feelings? You know, people can be really cruel, can't they? And as a student driver, I know that the older drivers can some- times say things about you student driv- ers that is offensive. And when that hap- pens, and someone makes a derogatory statement that hurts your feelings, I want you to learn a lesson from that. Don't get mad and fi re back or try to get even. Learn this lesson as a new driver: If you can't say something good about somebody, don't say anything at all. Most of the time, when people start talking about other people, they are just talking. They don't know what they are talking about, and they are doing it just to gain favor and to build themselves up. We call that Status By Negation: try- ing to build yourself up by tearing other people down. Learn this lesson, and learn it well. Don't listen to what other people say about other people. If you want to say something about someone else, go talk to that person and fi nd out for yourself if what you were going to say is really true. People can really be cruel. You know that from personal experience. We all do. And a lot of people will say "Well, he did it to me, so I'll just do it to him!" And when you start that kind of thinking, where does it stop? It doesn't and be- cause it doesn't, we just continue to hurt the people we are around by saying stuff that simply isn't so. Let me say it again: Don't listen to what other people are saying about other people. Do people the honor to meeting them and getting to know them before you talk about them to anybody else. When I run into people who are in the middle of a gossip session, I know one thing for sure: what they are saying is not the truth, it's gossip and hearsay. Can I say it one more time? If you can- not say something good about some- body, don't say anything at all. Gossip doesn't help anything or anybody. It just gives us a false sense of security and superiority that has no value to anybody. As a professional driver, learn to deal face to face or voice to voice with the other people in your life. Whether it's your dispatcher, or a customer, or an- other driver, be a face to face kind of person, and leave the gossip alone. I hope things are going well for you and that your learning experience in driving school is motivating you to get out there and build yourself into a mile- running, money-making mossback driv- er who sees it like it is and tells it like it happens. If you do that, you will join the ranks of those professional drivers who see the truth and say the truth, and who add to everything they get close to. Remember, it's always safety fi rst!! ◆ Idle Talk think it over 0614.indd 1 5/20/14 10:32 AM