EDITORIAL: Oops, we did it again
Rude.
That was what many people said about a music group being interrupted by security during a performance and told to move their vehicle.
That incident occurred Nov. 28 in the cafeteria when Blind Man’s Bluff was near the end of their program. A performer announced over the microphone that they’d been asked to move their van.
To us on the newspaper staff, that story sounded like a great opportunity to go after the security staff and IVCCs parking and towing policy. (Parking lots are always a hot topic.) Someone had seen the musicians’ van in the 30-minute parking in the circle drive, so we assumed security had over-reacted to the time limit.
"They need to get their priorities straight," we wrote in one draft of an editorial. "Was this a big security issue?" we asked in another draft.
Then we did what good reporters are supposed to do; we checked the facts.
Oops. It was a security issue. The vehicle was parked in a fire lane.
You may think that is not a big deal; there wasn’t any fire. Yes, that’s true, no fire took place that day, but if it had happened, we would be blaming security for not doing their job.
The point of this story isn’t about rudeness or whether security does their job, and it’s also not just about the responsibilities of reporters. It’s about the tendency we all have to jump to conclusions, to misjudge, to over-generalize, to talk and act without gathering the facts.
And that goes beyond being merely rude.