The old saying goes something like this: “those who can’t do, teach.”
Sometimes, however, men forget these truisms and instead insist upon mansplaining.
On a bright, sunny day not so long ago I decided it was within my abilities to teach my girlfriend how to fly fish.
A lifetime of training and honing teaching techniques led me to this decision. In my younger days I coached my boys’ baseball and basketball teams for years, was a certified trainer for the corporation for which I worked, plus I had years of hard knocks raising two kids.
So a day on the river teaching me girlfriend how to swing a fly rod as if you’re swinging a hammer, stripping line and mending to match the water flow seemed like a piece of cake.
And guys can teach and explain anything.
Off we went to the Gunnison Gorge, on the “back side” of Pleasure Park. We stopped in Delta on the way and loaded up on a snack-filled lunch of cold cuts, cheese, grapes and other goodies, then drove the beautiful dirt road along the south side of the river to the parking area.
Idyllic and picturesque, yes, except I should have known better.
Days prior I saw that it was going to be windy. Not breezy, but windy. I also chose to take a beginner to the largest river in the area. And, to top it off, she’s a lefty and was just weeks away from wrist surgery on her throwing arm.
I had somehow built in enough impediments to ensure the day wasn’t going to be successful.
And, sure enough, the wind made it difficult to cast without using advanced techniques. Her wrist began hurting, and she had to switch to her off hand to cast. And the river was running large, which made wading difficult.
It was a beautiful day in Gorge, but a frustrating day of fishing. Even in ideal conditions, I don’t think I’m the right person to teach her the proper techniques.
A few days ago I saw a post on social media from the Gunnison Gorge Angers Trout Unlimited 426 group. They are holding a Women Only Fly Fishing 101 class next month.
Now, I know the old adage mentioned above doesn’t apply to this group. They do know how to fly fish, and from what I’ve read from reviews, they also know how to teach.
So I immediately signed my girlfriend up for the class.
And now, if you’ll excuse the pun, I feel completely off the hook when it comes to teaching fly fishing.
• • • • • • • • •
Kudos to the Ouray County Plaindealer for pushing and pursuing open records with Ouray County regarding a personnel issue.
Generally, it’s difficult to get certain personnel records from government entities, and this one seemed like an uphill climb. In an open county commissioner meeting recently, County Administrator Connie Hunt mentioned that she had placed Public Health Director Tanner Kingery and Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd on performance improvement plans, but declined to cite the reason.
Kingery and Boyd have been at the forefront of the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and anyone who was listening or even casually scanning social media for most of the past year knew the two were working overtime.
It was no secret. In fact, it was a badge of honor that these two were constantly being lauded, and the more hours they worked the more they were lauded.
It became somewhat of a runaway greenhouse effect of adulation.
Was all that work necessary? Boyd and Kingery certainly said it was. The county commissioners at the time never protested, and instead voiced concern for the duo’s well-being for working so many hours.
No one, however, including Hunt, ever thought or expressed concern that the bill would come due. Yet, in December, Boyd and Kingery turned in their overtime hours, and the county had to pay. For this, they earned hefty overtime checks and slaps on the wrists in the form of improvement programs.
According to the Plaindealer, Boyd will be paid $22,047.05, and will receive 15-plus weeks of time off before June 2022. Kingery will be paid $26,540 and will receive nearly 14 weeks of time off.
Surely, Hunt knew what was happening, and should have expected having to pay these employees. After all, county policy requires it. Yet, she put the blame on Kingery and Boyd for working overtime without prior approval, like a scene out of Casablanca, being shocked, shocked that overtime was being worked during a pandemic.
Kingery and Boyd, too, are not devoid of responsibility. They told the Plaindealer that they didn’t expect to be paid, and only turned in the additional hours when the county received an Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity grant of $280,000, and saw this as way to get paid for their overtime.
Meanwhile, instead of hearing the constant refrain of overworked, underpaid employees being sung in county commissioner meetings and along social media platforms, the county administrator and county commissioners didn’t hire someone to help these two on a temporary basis. Instead, they spent over $30 per hour for a temporary public information officer and subsequently turned this into a permanent position.
Some people will be inclined to accuse the employees of taking advantage of the pandemic to line their pockets. But, truly, none of this happens if the county had been paying attention.
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