#diapers #drapes #dumpsters #PublicInterest #WhatToHide #WhatNotToHide
Drapes, diapers and dumpsters.
All three hide what we do.
One of them can hide pleasures. The other two hide waste.
All hide things that probably should be hidden.
But, they can’t hide everything.
The question becomes: are you hiding what should be hidden? Or, are you hiding things that should not?
If you are an open person, you generally believe that most of what you do should not be hidden. Some, of course, should and must be hidden – often behind or in drapes, diapers and dumpsters.
Still, some tend to hide EVERYTHING. These folks are either private to a fault, or they are committing nefarious deeds.
What lesson should we learn here? Some of what we do should rightly be hidden. Other things, perhaps should not.
Journalists, and rightly so, fight for everything to be open – not hidden. If they come across things that rightly should be hidden, they, generally, keep them so.
But if they come across things that should not be hidden, they rightly expose them.
Generally, there is no malice in their decisions. They see themselves, and rightly so, as arbiters of the public interest.
Sometimes, that may involve undraping proverbial diapers and dumpsters.
Sometimes, public interest treasure can be found among the waste.
A lesson here could be that unless you are private to a fault, and do not often engage in public activities, you can probably keep your entire life concealed.
But, if you prefer to interact and engage in public activities, you should take great care in what you conceal.
That isn’t to say that ALL personal information or deeds should be in the public domain. In fact, one should take great care in securing personal information, to save himself or herself from scams, theft and other damage.
But if your activities can affect or influence the public interest, exposure should be allowed, if not welcomed.
In short, part of what you do – the part no one needs or wants to see — should be behind drapes, or in diapers and dumpsters.
The parts of what you do that affect others – people you may not even know personally – should be done in the open.
Those who deliberately conceal nefarious deeds should be exposed for what they are.
As the saying goes, sunlight can be the best disinfectant. Let the sun shine in on most of what you do. You’ll be a better person for it.
Peter