VALDOSTA —
Mr. Wright was never wrong. At least that’s what he told himself and anyone else who would listen.
No matter the situation, Mr. Wright was right.
Disagree with Mr. Wright and he’d point out all of the ways the other person was wrong and the many ways in which he was right.
He did this in no uncertain terms. Mr. Wright could be right righteous in his rightness. Mr. Wright could be a little belligerent, too.
In truth, quite often Mr. Wright was indeed right. But there were times when Mr. Wright was absolutely wrong. Dead wrong. No ifs, ands, or buts. Still, he wouldn’t admit it, couldn’t admit it. Mr. Wright was never wrong.
He believed everyone else believed him as infallible as he believed himself to be. He believed everyone believed he was never wrong because he told them he was never wrong and if a man who is never wrong says he is never wrong, well, then surely, he must be right about that, too.
Yet, his colleagues, friends and family had caught him wrong in past situations. They knew Mr. Wright was wrong as well as they knew the sky was blue. Yet, he had never admitted he was wrong even on the rare occasion when he was legitimately wrong.
So certain were they on these occasions that Mr. Wright was wrong that they began quietly questioning even the times when he was right.
Well, they pondered, if Mr. Wright was wrong about what I know was right in that one particular situation why should he be right on this matter?
Even with all of the growing doubts surrounding the rightness of Mr. Wright, no one ever challenged him on being wrong. It was just too much work. No one wanted to take all of the guff that came with calling Mr. Wright on being wrong.
Besides, why bother? Everybody else believed Mr. Wright was wrong most of the time anyway. All it took was a cutting of the eyes from one worker to the next for everyone to silently realize they believed Mr. Wright was wrong once again ... even if he may really be right.
Only one person came to see Mr. Wright as never wrong. And that was Mr. Wright. Had he just admitted being wrong on occasion, he may have been viewed by others as he viewed himself: The right man for the job.
Instead, most folks viewed him simply as a man who didn’t know right from wrong.
Dean Poling is The Valdosta Daily Times assistant managing editor.
Dean Poling
Wrong Way Wright
A Tale
- Dean Poling
-
-
Roosevelt Marshall
Roosevelt Marshall of Valdosta passed this life Dec. 14, 2010. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. at Union Cathedral with Bishop Wade S. McCrae, Pastor officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Hill Cemetery. Final rites are entrusted to Harrington Funeral Home.
-
Alice W. Johnson
Alice W. Johnson, 55, of Valdosta died on Monday, Oct. 11, 2010 at the Langdale Hospice House following a lengthy illness. Services for Alice W. Johnson will be held at 4 p.m. today, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010 in the chapel of the Carson McLane Funeral Home with the Rev. Jay Watkins officiating. The burial will follow in the Riverview Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Langdale Hospice 2263 Pineview Drive, Valdosta Ga. 31602 or to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, 2121 SW 16th Street Gainesville, Florida 32608. Condolences to the family may be conveyed online at www.mclanefuneralservices.com. — Carson McLane Funeral Home
-
Independent radio station changes man’s life
After years in construction, Cody Fender left building structures from the ground up to building the kingdom of God out of thin air.
-
Crofts launched Labor Day Gospel Sing
Given his involvement with the Labor Day Gospel Sing, many Valdostans probably think Brother Benny Daniels started the event which is now in its 22nd year.
-
America’s Last Freak!
And so it came to pass that a traveling carnival re-instituted a long-lost American tradition: The freak show.
-
A city of trees
Much will be written and said about the architecture of the new Lowndes County Judicial Complex.
-
Talking to yourself on the phone
He was elbow-deep in the guts of a copying machine. No one else stood with him. And he was just talking away.
Not under his breath either. He talked like nobody’s business. -
Forget an overpass, 84 needs a leapover
A recent event could well hold the answers to resolving a long-term problem and teaching a new generation that just because something looks easy doesn’t mean it is.
-
Sign of the voting times
Maybe we need a new way to elect our leaders.
Less than 18 percent of Lowndes County’s registered voters participated in Tuesday’s primary election. That sounds like a mandate of an apathetic populace that wants to do things differently. -
Wiregrass, um, Technical something or other
There’s nothing really wrong with the new technical school name of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. But that’s quite a mouthful for folks used to calling its tech school the two-syllable Val-Tech.
- More Dean Poling Headlines
-
Roosevelt Marshall
