It's My Opinion!

Editor's note: Susan Peterson maintains an "It's My Opinion" page on her web-site, this is one of her opinion pieces.

Pride and Integrity

Well, I guess you all are now bored with reading my article on responsibility.  It's been a long hard road since our house burned down.  I'm surviving though. If I wait until our house is finished to write something new, it will be Christmas.  I've been thinking a lot though, on what I want to talk about.  There are so many issues.  I could bend your ear a lot about the politics of the country, but nah - I'm probably not going to be able to tell you anything you don't already know.  There have been a few things bothering me lately, so I'll speak about them - pride and integrity.  Am I one of a dying breed? There must be more people out there with lots of pride and integrity.  However, especially in my business - working for the U.S. Government, those two words seem to be lacking.

I am a pretty forthright person.  I say it like it is.  No, I'm not going to tell you your dress is ugly or you are.  I'm not insensitive nor a clod.  But, I will tell you the truth about things, even if it hurts to tell.  I am paid where I work to be an analyst: to analyze problems and projects and state what the outcome is.  My presentations show the true outcome, what I have come to call the "in-the-box comments".  But now-a-days people aren't willing to tell the truth.  They will tell you whatever they think you want to hear.  What I have discovered is that these people are so hell-bent on themselves, they will do anything to achieve their goals.  So, what ever works so they can achieve their goals is what they do.  They don't really care about the people that work for them nor the people around them.

It doesn't take long to recognize those that have a lack of integrity or pride.  Those are the people that, often times, you have to back out their door so you're not stabbed in the back on the way out.  They are the kind that let someone else take the hit for something they did. why not? that's the way of the world.  How many times has that happened to you?

Remember when people actually admitted they made a mistake?  I can't believe it was that long ago.  Some people take admitting a mistake as being weak and imperfect.  Woe is me, if we were all perfect we wouldn't be here on earth.  I submit that it takes a self-confident and self-assured person to admit making a mistake.  I firmly believe if you have pride in yourself, you wouldn't have any breach in integrity.  It's hard to be ethically or morally corrupt if you have self-esteem and pride within yourself.  There are times I've screwed up at work and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I did.  There - I would get it over with, internalize it for a while and then get on with my life.

However, too many people out there have little or no integrity.  My opinion is that society is breeding this type of behavior. Look at all the things that happen in the world that are allowed and rewarded!  I can think of a few at the top of the heap in Washington, D. C.  The message we are sending youth and adult alike is - go ahead, lie, cheat, steal, snort it up your nose and STILL you can get to the top.  It doesn't matter.  BUT it does matter.   I bet, no, I know there are a lot of people reading this that are trying to live their lives with integrity and pride.  I wish I could see these people.   Why don't I see them?  I think that when a person tells or trys to tell the truth, they are lambasted and ridiculed and made examples of.  So, guess what?  Most of these people probably just start to keep their mouth shut.

Most llama owners/breeders take pride in their herds and their breeding programs.   However, there are a few that don't. Those are the people who want to make a fast dollar (and there are no fast dollars in raising llamas) and breed any female to any male just to produce a cria.  These people have no planned breeding program and breed young (IMHO under two) females to males or overbreed their females (gone are the days when any open female was a sin.)  Then there is integrity.  Again, it is a very small percentage of people who have llamas that have little or no integrity.  Those are the ones that sell 6 week old crias without their moms.  Those are the ones that have animals with defects and sell them and their off-spring without informing the buyer.  I guess that's where caveat emptor comes into play.  But should it be that way? I don't think so.

I've been there.  I have a marvelous male, with all the hopes of being a prospective herd sire.  Unfortunately, I have found out that his sire carries a defect.  Nothing really physically horrible, but a defect none the less.   I had two options - not to say a thing and sell him for a good price and forget about it OR to tell it like it is.  I chose the later.  If I told you I was not disappointed, I'd be lying.  Of course, I am.  But who gets hurt in the long run? me? the buyer? the male? NO! the off-spring of this male.  I couldn't live with that on my conscience.  When I sell him, I want to be sure he can't pass on this small, but viable defect, so we will have him gelded.  He will still be marvelous, will continue to win at shows and he will still make a wonderful friend and pet - he just won't be able to sire any crias.  Is that so bad???  I don't think so.

You may ask what about the herd sire?  What happened to him?  I noticed he was auctioned at a sale about four months ago.  I wonder if he had been gelded?   I truly don't know.  I do know that every cria he sired, had the defect.  I wonder if the person bidding realized the animal had a defect?  I hope they did, but in my heart, I bet not.

Maybe I shouldn't expect so much.  My biggest asset is my biggest fault, I have high standards and unfortunately, forget and try to hold people to those standards.  It just doesn't work, yet I wish it did.  It's hard teaching my children to have pride in themselves and to be ethical in this time.  Still, I will continue teaching them.  I will continue to hold myself to my high standards of pride and integrity.  Please, don't get me wrong, I am hardly an "angel", I am a living, breathing human being just like everyone else, I just handle it differently.

If you want to comment on my opinion page, please drop me an email at Susie@tfs.net.  I just love to get mail!