I was going to post this on Monday, but I think it's important to just get it out and start my school/work week fresh.
As many of you are aware, the past couple of weeks have been tremendously stressful for me and a few others. All of this stems from a "war" that I don't believe anyone intended to start.
After mulling things over, I've learned a few things about myself. I was always the kid who championed the underdog. My mother used to say to me when I was young, "stop bringing home strays", and she didn't mean lost animals. I tend to get dragged into other people's dramas or become associated with them because I hate seeing people picked on, bullied or victimized. I've always been that person. The problem is, I don't always get the facts, as a lot of times they are presented from a very slanted point of view or with a sense of urgency upon which I jump, feet first, not thinking before acting.
Something Dorothy Morrison said to me made a lot of sense, which made me begin to question whether there are things I could have done differently in this entire mess. And yes, there are. And yes, I'm going to apologize here, publicly, because when I feel I've done something wrong publicly, it deserves a public apology. I won't apologize for standing up for what's right. Everyone should do that. The way someone does it makes all the difference.
First, I owe Magaly Guerrero an apology. She wrote something negative about me and instead of me going to her privately to discuss it, I went public with my anger and hurt. I'm sorry, Mags. You have every right to your opinions and I know you well enough to know you weren't out to get me. I'm sorry. It was wrong.
To Christian Day: something you wrote on a previous post is also what made me rethink my stance. You asked why I didn't bring this information to you and ask you to talk to Edward. I honestly didn't think about it any more than you did at the moment, but that should have been my course of action. So, to you and to Edward, I am sorry I didn't even think to do something like that. I'm pretty sure if I had, the team who wanted to post all of this wouldn't have gone through with it. I am sorry for not giving that opportunity. It would have saved a lot of upset and pain if I had.
To the team of folks who brought all of this to me: I'm sorry I didn't provide you with better consultation and leadership. I should have, and I didn't. This wasn't something that needed to be handled this way. So, I let you down, and I'm sorry.
Does this mean I shouldn't have cared about the plagiarism and ip theft? No. I care a lot. But, I'm not someone who likes humiliating anyone, and even if Menten had bullied me or blocked me, the attempt should have been made by me to reach out, no matter what I assumed he might do.
I did not seek out this information against him, and I didn't do the research (although I did review it extensively). I did, however, perpetuate this by sharing and calling for a boycott, and it is my fault that I didn't handle it better. I still stand strongly against plagiarism, but I want to make it clear that I don't seek people out like this to dig up dirt or point out their mistakes.
In retrospect, I'm not really sure Edward Menten DID understand what plagiarism is, even if he called other people out for it. Something Firelyte Rioter said struck me as well. He said words to the effect that Menten just didn't seem to get it... and now, I think maybe he didn't. He called out someone for plagiarizing a friend's material.. perhaps he didn't equate that to what he was doing- copying paragraphs from other sites and putting them into articles without attribution. He doesn't necessarily have a pleasant personality with a lot of people, but that doesn't make him a bad person. It did make it easier for folks, including me, to call him out like this. And, that is wrong, no matter how it's sliced or presented. Because, in the end, I participated in the very thing I hated most- bullying and picking on someone, even if this person was guilty- and even if he did understand what he was doing was wrong.
I know many of you may say that he stole things and everyone should know that's wrong. But, I remember that one of my children when he was very young walked to our local convenience store and took a bunch of candy, put it in his pockets and walked home. He was 5 years old at the time (long story- he scared his big sister to death because she couldn't find him). I came home from work, found him and made him take the candy back so I could pay for it. The point is, he didn't understand that you have to pay for the candy first. The internet can seem like a candy shop to someone who may be new to it. My son understood that he couldn't just take things that belong to someone else, but he didn't make the connection that the candy belonged to someone else. I'm not trying to liken Menten to a child. He's a grown up, but I don't know him, nor did I know him well enough to make a judgment as to his motives.
I want to thank Dorothy for her words of wisdom and the loving way in which she handled this. She is an inspiration to me, and I plan to do my best to emulate her behavior in all of this going forward. And, I thank Christian, because his words really did hit home with me, whether they were intended to be nice or not.
And, that's really it for me now. I'm closing that chapter out. I do think good has and will come from the experience and that lessons have been learned all the way around.
I am taking my blog in a new direction going forward. I'm still going to have opinions on things, but I think those are best kept to a minimum or presented in a much more unbiased light. I'm no longer going to allow myself to get dragged into other people's dramas- that is a promise I am making to myself. I'm still going to stand up for what I believe is right, but I'm going to do it from a whole new place.
These are painful lessons to learn, but necessary ones. I'm glad that folks have been educated on plagiarism and what it actually means. That's important. But, I am sorry that people were hurt over it.
So, going forward, a new beginning here. I hope that it will be a productive one.
Sláinte,
Kallan
As many of you are aware, the past couple of weeks have been tremendously stressful for me and a few others. All of this stems from a "war" that I don't believe anyone intended to start.
After mulling things over, I've learned a few things about myself. I was always the kid who championed the underdog. My mother used to say to me when I was young, "stop bringing home strays", and she didn't mean lost animals. I tend to get dragged into other people's dramas or become associated with them because I hate seeing people picked on, bullied or victimized. I've always been that person. The problem is, I don't always get the facts, as a lot of times they are presented from a very slanted point of view or with a sense of urgency upon which I jump, feet first, not thinking before acting.
Something Dorothy Morrison said to me made a lot of sense, which made me begin to question whether there are things I could have done differently in this entire mess. And yes, there are. And yes, I'm going to apologize here, publicly, because when I feel I've done something wrong publicly, it deserves a public apology. I won't apologize for standing up for what's right. Everyone should do that. The way someone does it makes all the difference.
First, I owe Magaly Guerrero an apology. She wrote something negative about me and instead of me going to her privately to discuss it, I went public with my anger and hurt. I'm sorry, Mags. You have every right to your opinions and I know you well enough to know you weren't out to get me. I'm sorry. It was wrong.
To Christian Day: something you wrote on a previous post is also what made me rethink my stance. You asked why I didn't bring this information to you and ask you to talk to Edward. I honestly didn't think about it any more than you did at the moment, but that should have been my course of action. So, to you and to Edward, I am sorry I didn't even think to do something like that. I'm pretty sure if I had, the team who wanted to post all of this wouldn't have gone through with it. I am sorry for not giving that opportunity. It would have saved a lot of upset and pain if I had.
To the team of folks who brought all of this to me: I'm sorry I didn't provide you with better consultation and leadership. I should have, and I didn't. This wasn't something that needed to be handled this way. So, I let you down, and I'm sorry.
Does this mean I shouldn't have cared about the plagiarism and ip theft? No. I care a lot. But, I'm not someone who likes humiliating anyone, and even if Menten had bullied me or blocked me, the attempt should have been made by me to reach out, no matter what I assumed he might do.
I did not seek out this information against him, and I didn't do the research (although I did review it extensively). I did, however, perpetuate this by sharing and calling for a boycott, and it is my fault that I didn't handle it better. I still stand strongly against plagiarism, but I want to make it clear that I don't seek people out like this to dig up dirt or point out their mistakes.
In retrospect, I'm not really sure Edward Menten DID understand what plagiarism is, even if he called other people out for it. Something Firelyte Rioter said struck me as well. He said words to the effect that Menten just didn't seem to get it... and now, I think maybe he didn't. He called out someone for plagiarizing a friend's material.. perhaps he didn't equate that to what he was doing- copying paragraphs from other sites and putting them into articles without attribution. He doesn't necessarily have a pleasant personality with a lot of people, but that doesn't make him a bad person. It did make it easier for folks, including me, to call him out like this. And, that is wrong, no matter how it's sliced or presented. Because, in the end, I participated in the very thing I hated most- bullying and picking on someone, even if this person was guilty- and even if he did understand what he was doing was wrong.
I know many of you may say that he stole things and everyone should know that's wrong. But, I remember that one of my children when he was very young walked to our local convenience store and took a bunch of candy, put it in his pockets and walked home. He was 5 years old at the time (long story- he scared his big sister to death because she couldn't find him). I came home from work, found him and made him take the candy back so I could pay for it. The point is, he didn't understand that you have to pay for the candy first. The internet can seem like a candy shop to someone who may be new to it. My son understood that he couldn't just take things that belong to someone else, but he didn't make the connection that the candy belonged to someone else. I'm not trying to liken Menten to a child. He's a grown up, but I don't know him, nor did I know him well enough to make a judgment as to his motives.
I want to thank Dorothy for her words of wisdom and the loving way in which she handled this. She is an inspiration to me, and I plan to do my best to emulate her behavior in all of this going forward. And, I thank Christian, because his words really did hit home with me, whether they were intended to be nice or not.
And, that's really it for me now. I'm closing that chapter out. I do think good has and will come from the experience and that lessons have been learned all the way around.
I am taking my blog in a new direction going forward. I'm still going to have opinions on things, but I think those are best kept to a minimum or presented in a much more unbiased light. I'm no longer going to allow myself to get dragged into other people's dramas- that is a promise I am making to myself. I'm still going to stand up for what I believe is right, but I'm going to do it from a whole new place.
These are painful lessons to learn, but necessary ones. I'm glad that folks have been educated on plagiarism and what it actually means. That's important. But, I am sorry that people were hurt over it.
So, going forward, a new beginning here. I hope that it will be a productive one.
Sláinte,
Kallan