Shoe Shining – You Got What It Takes?

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thisIs

Last week I received a message from a Facebook follower that highlights the potential dangers of pre-Feis shoe shining. Thankfully, she saw the humor, and admits she is accident prone, so she wanted to share the story.

I was upset that she had been injured, but saw the humor in her story, and asked if I could share. She approved, with some ‘editing’ and if I promised not to use her name. Read the story, would you admit if it was you?  😉

So, without further ado…

Hello! I thought I would share this story, because in retrospect, it IS a little funny.

So I’m dancing at the [snip] Feis tomorrow, and it is my first Feis since December 2011.

So thinking of your wise words, I decided to shine my shoes. But first, I tried to get the many layers of duct tape and glue off the tips. It wasn’t coming off easily, to I used a metal scraper (not a razor blade, thankfully).

I was nearly done with shoe #1, when the scraper somehow slid from my hand and cut the skin of my thumb from top to side. We’re talking a big carton-paper cut type of thing. So I call my husband for help.

He gets the band aids and the disinfectant, starts to clean and dress my wound… and I faint. I have never been very good with blood.

So all in all, my shoes only got polished this morning, but darn, shoe shinning can be dangerous! (I’m joking). I am accident prone, what can I say. The crazy thing was, I was not going to do it, but remembering your wise words, I kicked my butt to do it. Maybe I should have remained lazy!

As we messaged back and forth about her story, she did add:

P.S. I shared this story because I see humor in the situation. I am in no way blaming you for influencing me to shine my shoes and getting hurt in the process. I am a klutz, accident prone, and I know it.

I felt it necessary to remind her that no where in my shoe shine post do I recommend scrapping anything off with a metal scraper 🙂

Thankfully, it was not a career ending injury 😉  and we could both had a laugh.

I would like to remind everyone to stick to the tools I recommend in my post. There are no sharp objects there, and the very worst that can happen is a contact high from sniffing polish or a nasty black stain that won’t come out easily.

Be safe, keep shining, and leave the metal tools to the pros 😉

It’s August, it must be creeper season…

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Sorry for the title, trying to get your attention. If you have been a What The Feis groupie for a while, you have probably already seen the article I posted last August about the guy videoing dancers at a feis. If not, here is the link again.

Why am I bringing it up, well, it happened again this weekend and I wanted to share the story from a follower who messaged it to me via Facebook.

Wanted to write to you and let you know that we were at the Missouri State Championships in St. Louis this weekend and while watching the PC/OC stage we sat next to an older gentleman. We noticed that he was not just watching one particular child and when a young little dancer would walk by him he would write her number down on a sheet if paper. When I took a closer look at the sheet he was writing on there were LOTS of different dancers numbers. We went to let the volunteers know and in about five minutes staff of the Feis and hotel security were talking to the man. He stated he was just watching his “granddaughter” but he became very uncomfortable while they talked with him. Staff then looked like they were leaving but the hotel security guard sat two rows back. We watched as this man crumpled the numbers sheet up and dropped it on the floor and then he got up and walked out of the room. The security guard followed him out. We later caught back up with the staff and security guard and they stated they took his photo and all staff would have his picture for Sundays Feis. It was just scary to know that this happens even though we read about it this hit home for our school and we spread the word for dancers to be vigilant about what they are walking around in and also who is talking/watching them.

She also added:

the STAFF for the Feis did an amazing job at handling this! I think they need to know that too. 🙂

It truly saddens me that these kinds of things happen, but this should serve as a reminder that we have to be always watching. That is not easy at a feis, with everything that is going on, but if just one person reports anything ‘out of the ordinary’, it will make a difference.

Please share this with everyone, the more people that are aware that it CAN happen to them, the better. It happened to us.

You may also want to take a look at some of the other posts about safety I have put together. If you have any to share, please do and I will post links to them.

Thanks, and please be careful out there!

What goes online, stays online…

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foreverThis morning, while getting caught up on things in my home office, with my ever present social media streams going on the monitor, I saw a well-known dancer who I have always admired post a rather derogatory over-generalization.  I won’t say who or what, you can probably find it, and that is the point of this post.

I know people use social media for all kinds of reasons; to praise, to complain, to share, to seek, to buy, and so on. What lots of people seem to forget, or maybe not realize in the first place is, that temporary rant that is on your screen right now, and off it 15 seconds from now, is still out there.

I am not guilt-free here, I have bitched, posted negative reviews, and criticized companies online. I realize that these comments will be out there and will most likely be seen by the ‘targets’ of those comments, and in general, that is my intention, hoping to get a reaction that fixes an issue. My comments are posted intentionally, with a purpose. I am not saying that makes it right, I am saying that what you post could have results, some that you may not have intended.

So when I saw that post this morning, and know what an influence this dancer has on so many, I began to wonder how her comment might be perceived by her audience, and how it might affect what others think. Please note that I saw the comment as a rant, a vent, blowing off steam at a current situation, and it was not unlike similar comments made by thousands everyday. It just made me think.

I imagine some of her fans who see the comment and think to themselves ‘well if she sees it that way, and I admire her, than I should maybe think that way too.’ On the other hand, I can see people who look up this person after hearing about her for the first time, seeing that comment and thinking ‘what a diva, I don’t know why she is so popular.’

So what is the point?

You are thinking, I am not popular, I don’t have thousands of followers, what I say doesn’t matter. Yes, yes it does. It may not matter right at this very moment, and truthfully, it may never matter, but before you post something, you need to think about the fact that someday it might matter. This goes for words, for pictures, for videos, for whatever, because what you post today, in that moment of anger, sadness, joy, whatever will still be out there years from now. Is it something you want your Dad to find, your Grandmum when she finally joins Twitter, or your potential boss in two years when you are going for that $50K a year job?

And if you do have thousands of followers, it may matter more. You have thousands of followers for a reason, they think the things that come out of your brain are important, or funny, or informative. You affect people. Please remember that in that moment of ‘insert emotion here’ when you post that ‘insert potentially negative stuff here’, because it might affect somebody in a way you never imagined.

But I never use my name, no one knows me…

Or so you think.

In the interest of full disclosure, we had a social media incident in the WTF household. TGC had an anonymous Twitter account which started innocently enough, but which ended abruptly when she made a snide comment about a dancer at her school. You see, although she never used her name, or her school name, there was enough info there that some of the dancers at her school knew it was her posting, but never revealed that they knew. Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the TCRG telling me about the account.

It took her a long time to rebuild the relationships she had damaged because of that social media account, and the one time she posted something hurtful is what caused all the damage, the one time.

I am off my soapbox now…

Sorry, as you can see this is a subject that hits close to home. Remember your words do not go away. Please pass this on to whoever you think might be able to use it. BTW, that is all of us 🙂

A new feis season, an old reminder…

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trustWith a new feis season upon us, I thought it might be a good idea to remind everyone about feis safety. My latest post as Feis Dad on Antonio Pacelli is a recap of what I blogged about in August here on WTF. Take a minute and refresh your memory about making sure that F.E.I.S – First, everyone is safe.

F.E.I.S. Recommendations

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This F.E.I.S. (First Everyone Is Safe) Recommendations list is the consolidation of thoughts from a few other posts. If you are new, this is the third in a series of posts regarding feiseanna safety. You can see Part 1 and Part 2 to get caught up if you need to.

Based on input from you, and some of my own observations, this is a concise list on what contributors think can help make the feiseanna environment  safer:

  • No dancer name/school lists posted in the ‘clear’ on any website – access can be granted to teachers and parents with the appropriate login credentials.
  • Posted results use numbers only to keep dancer/school anonymity in the feis environment.
  • While at a feis, use of the buddy system for all dancers, whether it is dancer/dancer or dancer/parent buddies.
  • Appropriate dresscode before, between and after all dances. ‘Appropriate’ can be determined by governing bodies.
  • Age appropriate makeup – IMHO, none of the girls are old enough to wear the makeup typically seen at feiseanna.
  • Visual identification for parents, other family members and friends, obtained at registration or upon paid entry. Registration would have more control to prove ‘association’ with a dancer. Recommendations have been wristbands and brightly colored stickers.
  • Presence of feis security – even a few school dads with ‘SECURITY’ or possible ‘SAFETY’ t shirts wandering the venue would help.
  • Safety signage that shows the feis is paying attention to safety. Examples might include:  ‘report incidents’, ‘be observant’, ‘no videography’ etc…
  • Observation – everyone needs to be observant and proactive.
  • Enforcement of the standards issued by the governing bodies, and common sense. This is top-down from the dance organizations, to schools, to competitions, to parents and the dancers themselves.

So, what do you think? Any obvious omissions? Again, please keep comments brief if possible.

I will be looking for people who are, or are connected to, the dance governing bodies, and people with working knowledge of how to get these ideas properly formatted, and to the right people. I have done some digging, but I am hoping some of you can help the process. If you can help, or point me in the right direction, please contact me.

 

F. E. I. S. – First Everyone Is Safe

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After my post from Monday, I was amazed to find that that type occurrence is more common than most of us think, and I was glad to hear that people had ideas on how to help reduce the potential of incidents like that from happening again. There were posts of Facebook, Voy and this blog, and probably others.

I would like to keep the momentum we had on Monday and Tuesday going, and want to gather those ideas to present them to whatever dance governing bodies will listen. My goal is to capture them here, in one place, instead of having to go to multiple websites to find them, and hope to keep them to just the ideas (and not any background stories) so that readers can scan them quickly.

So,  if you have thoughts on how to make feiseanna safer,  please add your comments below.  Please read any current comments and try not to repost the same idea,  and make comments brief if possible. All comments will be moderated. Think outside the box, sure, having the girls cover themselves between dances is good, but creepers are really not the only thing to think about, what other potential threats do we need to consider? What steps can parents, schools, feis committees, venues, etc… take?

After we have sufficient feedback, we can organize the ideas for submission and I will be looking for ‘connected’ people to help get the ideas to the right people.

I am ‘relatively’ new to this, so I am counting on you to help make our children’s passion the safest it can be for all of us.

Thanks in advance.

Parents & Dancers PLEASE Read

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At the McMenamin Academy Feis in Milwaukee this weekend, I witnessed a rather disturbing event that I thought would never happen at a feis. I suggest all parents and dancers read this, and share with anyone you think needs to read it…. I suggest all parents, with or without dancers.

*****

NOTE: Please see the comments below this post and on our FB page. This is not the only time ‘creepy’ has invaded our feiseanna.

I have added a second post to capture ideas to be presented to governing bodies on ways to make feiseanna safer. Please also visit that if you have suggestions.

*****

As I watched The Girl Child (TGC) practice in the hallway from inside the room where her stage was, I saw her and her Mom start this very intense discussion, so intense that it made me go out to find what was wrong. When I got to where they were, TGC said ‘that guy is filming us’ and as I looked over, I saw who she was talking about. My wife told me he had filmed a number of the girls who were practicing in the hall, as well as panned the whole area with his phone.

Not sure if he figured out we were talking about him, but he turned to leave, and my son and I followed him and watched him leave the building. I went to the awards table near the door he went out, told them what had happened, described the man and what he was wearing, and then I asked where the ‘Feis Boss’ was. They directed me to the office where I retold the story, wrote down a description of the man and his clothes, and I was informed security would be notified.

I returned to the stage and also told the feis volunteer who was working the hallway outside the stages what had happened. He had seen the man, but did not realize he was not associated with anyone at the feis. I told him I did not think he belonged, especially since TGC, as well as another dancer who was with her father, were both filmed, and we did not know him, and that when I had followed him, he had left the building.

And that was that, or so I thought.

As we were waiting for TGC to do her last dance of the day, I saw the ‘creepy man’ sitting in the back row watching the stage. I went into the hall to notify the volunteer I had spoken to earlier, and he was standing there with two security members, but had lost the man when he went to get security. I told him I knew where he was, and pointed him out to security. He was escorted out, and that was the last I heard of it.

Parents, you  know why I am posting this, and some of the older dancers who might read this get it. If you are like me, you would never think something like this would happen at a feis, and I tried to go through non-creepy scenarios as to why this man was filming, but his actions were just not fitting any of these scenarios.

So parents(and teachers maybe), please talk to your dancers, and let them know that if they see anything that just does not seem right, to tell someone. Do not assume that since there are feis volunteers around, everything is fine. In this case, a volunteer saw the man, but was busy with his job and had no reason to think anything out of place. NEVER go up and confront the person, but tell a parent, teacher or a feis volunteer. It could be someone taking pictures or videos, or who seems to be hanging around but seems to be alone, or whom just seems out of place. Have the dancers use the buddy system, and not run around the venue alone. This typically happens without them being told, but reminding the dancers to do it, and telling them why, is probably a good idea.

Also remember, there are some people who are professionals, and they do these things, but are supposed to be there. A photographer who had photographed dancers at the Dayton Celtic Festival mentioned on our Facebook page that he might fit the description above. I actually saw this photographer working at the Dayton Festival, and reassured him that I could tell the difference between him and the ‘creepy-guy’ right away, and I am sure he, and anyone who is supposed to be at an event, would be ok if they were questioned about what they were doing there. Just don’t assume that everyone is always supposed to be there, because sometimes, like this weekend, they are not. A little paranoia is not necessarily a bad thing.