Accountability

Ahhh! I write this whilst happy and a bit euphoric, I’m coming off of a fantastic weekend. You know it’s a good weekend when the only time you’re home is to sleep, shower and change clothes. I booked today off work and so far it’s living up to the past three days. I had an appointment with a program head at NAIT, I applied today and it looks like I’m going to be accepted. Going back to school is becoming a reality so it’s time to start making serious decisions. Hmmmm, I’ve got to have a few thousand dollars lying around here somewhere… maybe under the bed…

Summer is here, the stars are aligning and grand plans are in motion as the days fill with nice weather and potential. Hopefully I’ll be scrambling, caving, paddling or cycling in the mountains next weekend. Since I’ve been trying to do more things these days I’ve really come to realize how hard it is to do things alone or with unreliable people. Trying to plan things when nobody commits to anything or responds is incredibly demoralizing. I’m really getting annoyed with the “no response” technique when pitching an idea to someone, and this ties in well with our Kung Fu list serves, not answering a question isn’t the same thing as saying no, it just leaves the questioner wondering whether or not anyone’s reading the questions. Answer yes, no, or at the very least give a maybe, saying “maybe” at least lets the organizer know you’ve read what they sent and you’re considering it.

And for Pete’s sake don’t say you’re in for something when you can’t back it up. Things come up, things gets in the way and plans may change, such is life, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you say you’re in for something without actually putting any thought into whether or not you’ll actually be able to make it then you’re messing with the organizer and you’re lacking accountability. People who get excited about doing something and vow to participate the next time around but never follow through drive me positively batty. The word “accountability” has been floating around a lot these days and I’ve really come to admire the idea of being accountable for ones actions. You have to be accountable when you commitment to something.

I’ve wondered whether or not it’s a random inborn trait that makes people stick to their word or if it’s something that can be worked on or effected by their environment. There’s people I hardly know that I’m positive I can rely on and close friends that I often can’t. I believe it comes down to personality. For example, with the Feast of Fools coming up I tried to organize a group to go and a (new) friend of mine that I rarely ever see said, “I’m in” and I just know I could go out and buy them a ticket that instant and they’d be there. This person meant it when they said “I’m in,” but I had someone else who said the exact same thing and I knew If I bought them a ticket I’d probably be out $75. I really like people that mean what they say and I’m trying to be one of them.