The Past and Future
I got a message from an aquaintance a few days ago.
The backstory: If I recall correctly, he and some friends used my website Guestbook for a couple weeks to have a rude conversation… the kind of conversation a bunch of rude high school freshmen would have on a message board. I tracked their IP addresses to the Roxbury Latin School in Boston and gave the school a call. I got a short “Thank you” note from them and heard no more.
After I got the message below, I googled him and found that he’s a senior and (I assume) graduating in about 1 1/2 months.
Here’s what he sent me on Saturday:
Hey lee. 5 years ago i posted an obscene message on your message board, and you felt the need to contact my school, roxbury latin and tell them about it. you got 15 kids suspended and i think you’re worthless.
I hope you realize how worthless you are and that you really have no real friends in your life. your website is even worse than it was 5 years ago. keep it up pal.
you’re worthless,
-[removed]
I responded today:
Own your failures as well as your successes. You’ll be 10 times the man you thought you could be.
All the best for graduation.
Look forward and look up!
Lee
Excellent!
It is very true – all of life is a learning experience – when what you do works and when it doesn’t. The smart ones learn from both.
By contrast, my son got an in-school suspension in middle school for giving a vice-principal the finger. When asked on his college application whether he had ever been subject to school disciplinary action, he recounted the incident, complete with background on the specific injustice committed by the vice-principal that had led my son to give him the finger. The college in question admitted him the day after he submitted that information.
Moral: If you own up to what you did, and explain why, you’ll do a lot better than if you just try to blame the person who caught you.