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The True Citizen, Wednesday, February 9, 2022 — Page 5
Martha Chalker
OK...LANGUAGE ALERT
Ronda Rich
WHAT WE LEARNED
I have always urged people to
pay close attention to the lan
guage they use with themselves
and others. I did not specifically
target the use of foul language,
although that should definitely
be a part of the conversation.
Some of us are offended by
words many consider foul and
others of us are perfectly okay
spending time with or listening
to someone with a potty mouth.
The key here is if you are of
fended, let those around you
know or leave the situation,
change the channel on the tele
vision, walk out of the movie or
don't go at all!
We all need to consciously
be aware of the language we
use with our families, friends
and co-workers. Language, not
only the words that come out of
our mouths, but body language,
the language of eye contact or
lack thereof and the language
of being purposefully, physi
cally present and attentive to
our fellow humans.
An all important rule to go by
is, if you can't say something
nice, don't say it. Yes we've
probably heard that a hundred
times from our parents, at least
I did and I sincerely hope there
are others who did as well.
Unfortunately, it's all to easy
to forget when we are stressed
and overwhelmed by everyday
life and the challenges it brings.
Being inconsiderate and show
ing bad etiquette in any situa
tion is not going to contribute
to creating a positive, healthy
or happy environment whether
it's at home, school, work or
any other public place. Below I
will share some of the 20 Office
Etiquette Rules every Person
Should Know from etiquette
expert Myka Meier's faux pas
to avoid at work.
1. If you have a door, close
it if you take personal calls.
Keep private calls short by say
ing you'll call the person back
on your next break, or walk to
an area that is more conducive
to personal calls like a lounge
or even outside. If you work
in an open office space and
professional calls distract you,
remember it's not the person's
intention to bother you. If you
are the one on a professional
call, try to be mindful of the
volume of your voice.
2. Keep your computer and
phone muted or on silent or at
least at a low volume so that ev
ery time you receive an email or
other message it does not alert
everyone on your floor.
3. Do not use a conference
room to take long personal calls
or treat it as your personal of
fice. Squatting is for the gym
- not the workplace.
4. In addition to doing your
part to keeping the bathroom
clean, do not use the restroom
to socialize, whether you need
to call your mom or catch up
on the latest office news. It's
called “water cooler chat” for
a reason.
5. If you are attending a meet
ing, give your undivided atten
tion to the person speaking. If
you must send off a quick note
or check something on your
phone or computer, keep it short
and sweet.
6. Unless everyone is in on a
joke, keep loud conversation to
a minimum.
7. If someone is nice enough
to bring food to share with the
rest of the office, don't leave the
cleanup all to them. If you take
the last piece of cake, wash the
dish it came on and make sure
it gets back to them.
8. Email tone is very hard
to read, so be sure you're us
ing the language that helps
the recipient understand it.
And despite what your Middle
school English teacher may
have told you, exclamation
points are almost required these
days. A simple line like “Really
appreciate your
help! Thank you,
Michael! Is bet- CHALKER,
ter than “Thanks, 8
My husband and I are both
storytellers. This is how we
make a living and we consider
ourselves blessed that people
buy our words.
There are differences be
tween us, though. His words
are stacked into lines of dia
logue and are broken into
scenes that unfold over five
acts that fills up 60 single
spaced pages. This creates 43
minutes of a one-hour televi
sion drama. The other 17 min
utes is advertising.
His work is fictional except
for the stories and clever wit
ticisms he “steals” from me.
This is a family joke but I am
happy to share because he en
thusiastically uses money he
earns to buy me a new dress
or fill the bam with hay for the
coming winter.
Here’s another difference.
A BIG difference. His words
make a more lucrative living
than mine and while my stories
are read by hundreds of thou
sands of people, his stories are
enjoyed by millions. Probably,
over the course of a 35-year
career, John Tinker-written/
produced stories have been
watched by at least 500 million
people.
My favorite is a Tinker epi
sode named “Brothers” that
was aired near the end of the
first season of an NBC drama
called “St. Elsewhere”. Ironi
cally, he co-wrote it with his
brother, Mark, who would go
on to make his legacy as a
multi-Emmy award-winning
director not a writer. Tink, a
couple of years later, would
win an Emmy for his writing on
that highly critically acclaimed
show.
While we are both enor
mously blessed by the good
Lord to earn a living at a folly
such as storytelling, it some
times comes with a downside
that can be soul aching to bear.
It happened recently.
Tink had put in a year of hard
work on a series - “When Calls
The Heart” - that also included
nine months of being locked
in Canada when the borders
closed abruptly while he was
on location, filming. The show
has a zealous following which
we knew when he took the job
as showrunner/head writer/
executive producer.
We were in the car, headed
west on 1-20 toward one of my
favorite places in the world
- Mississippi - when the call
came, asking him to take the
show. I put down the newspa
per I was reading, slapped my
hand on the console and said,
“YES! You have to take this
show so you can write good
spirited family drama.”
He became completely
wrapped up in it. Enamored.
He poured 14-hour days into
it including long video con
versations with cast, crew and
the network. Sometimes, he
would sit on the sofa, writing
for hours without standing
up or taking a break. He was
completely consumed by the
stories and characters. He
added God back, introducing
a black family, the Canfields,
who would quickly win many
hearts. Joseph Canfield is a
preacher and Tink built him
using the foundation of my
Daddy’s legacy of unbreak
able faith.
My friend, Karen Peck,
and I joined forces to ask our
folks to watch. And that they
did. The audience grew so
tremendously that an already-
successful-show became the
most watched in the history of
the Hallmark channel.
All was wonderful until
the final episode when Tink
- with the support of the ac
tors and network - resolved a
love triangle. A por
tion of the audience SEE
disagreed with the pj|Q^
suitor chosen with
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WITH A
ROJ
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Tuesday 9-7
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ADVERTISE HERE!
To be included in the Burke
County Business Directory,
contact Roy Chalker
at 706-554-2111.
Burke Memorial Funeral Home
www.burkememorial.com
^ Home o/Dependable Service”
842 Liberty Street, Waynesboro, CA
Family owned operated
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706-833-9867 or 706-551-5100