Entry #3- The Weather Community: The Good and the Bad

As a member of the weather commmunity, I find that the majority of us are great people and share an incredible passion. However, we have our share of lunatics. These are all MY OPINIONS, and I'll own ALL OF THEM. If I offend anyone, take it as constructive criticism. Getting offended is a great way to realize what you're doing wrong (as long as it's reasonable critcism). I don't want anyone coming at me on Twitter like a herd of rabid hyenas. I won't say anything that's not true, and won't point out any particular individual. I'm giving a fair chance. But first, I'll point out the great kinds of people in the community.

My favorite people are the ones who inspire. The ones who spark interest. The ones who make you wonder. I hope this one person is being pictured in your mind: Tim Samaras. We lost an incredible man and genious mind in Canadian County, OK last May. Recently reading the book "Tornado Hunter" about Tim and the TWISTEX team, I was inspired to the max. Even though I never got to meet him, I can tell he knew how to keep things interesting. He could evoke emotions inside you. He could encourage you to follow your dreams. And those are some of the best qualities a person could ever have. Rest in peace, Tim, Carl, and Paul.

Pretty much anyone who doesn't go around harassing others for no good reason or trying to pass off as some big-shot will fall into my "great people" category. We have quite the variety of people, including those from towns you've never heard of, to those we see on TV every day. Storm chasers, researchers, teachers, meteorlogists, photographers. People of all ages from children, teenagers, all the way up to the elderly. All different backgrounds. These differences all make us unique. But those differences can also create tension.

Very often, forecasts don't verify. And along with that can come LOTS of criticism. I've seen all too many times people bickering like 5 year olds on social media because of something stupid (like a wrong forecast). Or maybe something wasn't to someone's liking. Or maybe because someone actually DID something wrong and won't own up to it (we all know that ONE figure who keeps appearing and disappearing, never owning up to anything, and making death threats in the process). My advice: GROW UP. We don't need to bicker over things that don't matter and most people never even notice. I can understand it when someone did something wrong, but if it's something small, don't even mention it.

Next are the ones that REALLY irritate me: the big-shots. The ones who are always saying "look at me!". "Look at MY stuff!". "Look at what I did!". "I'm SUCH an awesome person!". I can NOT stand arrogance. I don't want to be around you if you're completely self absorbed. There's one person that generally comes to mind when that's said. I won't say the name, but I'm sure we all know who I'm talking about. I will say right off the bat that he is REALLY good at what he does. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be where he is today. He's very good at selling his stuff. But the problem is that he thinks he has to be so arrogant. He has to be known. He'll go to the ends of the earth so people will notice him. Here's my belief: if you do good work, the quality of it should work for you. You'll eventually get noticed and be well respected among others. You don't have to pretend you're doing research to please other people and to justify why you do what you do. Just be responsible and stay modest, PLEASE.

The final group I'll talk about are the experts. No, not the real experts, but the ones who feel the need to be the announcer when there's severe weather, or say "VIOLENT TORNADO ON THE GROUND!!! THIS IS LIFE THREATENING!!!" in all caps when it's really just a broad rotation that's barely maintaining a tornado warning. Don't pretend like you know everything. I used to be like this, but eventually after people pointed stuff out to me and I was wrong several times, I learned to stop. When you're all over social media saying that a storm "should" or even worse, "will" do something is completely foolish. You can almost never trust it when someone says this. And again, I've done these things before. But I've learned from my mistakes, something that seems to be difficult for so many.

Remember, these are MY OPINIONS. Don't freak out if you don't feel the same way. My opinions, even though I think they stand for what's right, DO NOT have to equal yours. We all have rights to different opinions, and shouldn't attack each other when our opinions differ.