Your Privacy Will Never Be Shared...

Most people are very personal with their contact information. I really don't like random people to know my email address because I end up on getting random (and useless) forwards...and if you know me well, you know I despise forwards. Or I end up on someone's list that they send mass emails to.

Story #1:
There is a gay named David Nelson who founded Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah. He's an advocate of gun rights, and while I'm all for owning a gun, I cannot stand people who want to carry guns everyone and think the Constitution gives them that absolute right. I believe in reasonable gun safety laws (like a majority of Americans) but I think there is a natural limit to a "citizen's army" not sanctioned by the government.

Anyway, this David Nelson character goes down in my book as crazy and annoying. I'm the volunteer coordinator for Pride and about 2 weeks ago he b'ccd me on an email complaining about Pride organizers banning guns from the festival. I don't know why he b'ccd me at the volunteer coordinator address, but he did.

Now I'm starting to get his emails on my personal email address! He just decided to add me to his mailing lists (and rumor has it that he does this). I'm going to write him a polite email asking him to take me off his mailing list.

If you do not know the person, you should not have their personal email address or telephone number. I do not want anyone and everyone calling me on my phone and wasting my minutes. However, I do want my friends and family to call me and will gladly give them my phone number.

Story #2:
My good friend Ryan Oliver Hansen is an amazing guy. I have so much respect for him, his philosophy on life, and what he's doing with his life right now. He's actually on the speed dial on my phone.

Recently, Ryan's phone was destroyed and he changed his number. I did not have the number and needed to call him, so I text messaged Adam to get it. His response? "...I will either give him yours or ask him if I can share."

Adam has this thing about not giving people's contact information to strangers. I can totally understand that and appreciate him valuing a person's privacy. But in this case, his bureaucratic and automatic response was ridiculous! I'm Ryan's friend, not some random stranger. I texted Adam back saying, "It's Ryan. I know it's okay." He replied, "O.k."

My analysis may be incorrect, but I don't think it is. Adam likes to have power, which in this case is information. He loves it when he knows something that others do not. If Adam's goal was to "prove" that Ryan is his friend because he has his phone number, then so be it. But to hold that "power" and show it off is not only ridiculous, but childish.

It always seems to me that Adam can be the nicest guy in the world, but then turn around and have a power-trip. It's annoying and it makes me not want to hang out with him, which is really sad considering I invited him to hang out on Sunday night.