When I was young and would complain about my legs hurting, my mother would usually say it was just "growing pains."
Pea Ridge -- city and school -- is experiencing "growing pains." With growth, there is both good and bad. How we respond to both helps determine the ultimate progress of either.
This week, Pea Ridge water customers were under a "precautionary boil order" after a water line was broken on a construction site. City officials notified The TIMES, Benton County Alert and television stations in order to notify the city residents. They also placed a poster at the four-way stop intersection of Arkansas Highways 94/72. The TIMES posted the information on Facebook and Twitter and asked people to tell their neighbors, knowing that not everyone has Facebook or Twitter nor necessarily uses a computer.
The response of city residents was overwhelming.
Many people shared the status. Many had questions.
Officials from the construction company took more than 100 cases of bottled water to the schools since students were not allowed to drink from the water fountains. When that was posted on Facebook, some people commended the action. Others complained saying that they should also provide water to the city residents.
From everything The TIMES staff was told, the accident was a combination of soft ground from extreme winter weather -- frozen ground, ice, snow and then thawing -- and the heavy equipment being driven over that line. It was immediately reported to officials and repaired quickly without any contaminated water entering the system, according to Water Department officials.
Still, people complained.
Some people were extremely critical of the construction company; others were critical of the city officials' method of communicating the crisis. The county has set up the alert system which The TIMES both in the newspaper and Facebook has recommended.
I agree, it's inconvenient. But, so are many facets of life.
How we respond to inconveniences helps reveal our character. And, I must admit, I don't always respond correctly or maturely, but then, am convicted and change.
Often, people, especially people who work for public entities, try to hide the "bad" pretending that it doesn't exist or happen. Bad things happen. People make bad decisions. We all fail at one time or another. But, we learn from those mistakes, hopefully, and change.
Scripture states: "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity." Proverbs 24:16 (American Standard Version)
Too often we condemn people for their bad choices when we ourselves are usually guilty of the same or a similar choice.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5
We need to learn to look at one another with compassion, realizing that we, too, are just as capable of erring.
An interesting quote by former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt addresses this: "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. Anger is only one letter short of danger. If someone betrays you once, it is his fault; if he betrays you twice, it is your fault. Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. He who loses money, loses much; he who loses a friend, loses much more."
People, businesses, public officials make mistakes -- some by omission, some by commission. Maybe we should be as forgiving of others as we'd like for them to be of us.
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Editor's note: Annette Beard is the managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County.
Editorial on 03/12/2014