And remember ... ALLLLLLL clowns are evil.

I do not now have, nor have I ever been known for having, tact. (Tim, I can hear you dammit. Stop laughing.)

Some folks have the ability to always say the right things to the right people at the right time. (I'll add that it's been my experience that having an accent of some kind will assist with this.) The person that can do this? Yeah, they're the exact opposite of me. I actually can say something perfectly kind, but will wind up apologizing for it because I'll have chosen the wrong words.

Because of the number of times I've gone to the Gulf Coast, my manager has decided that I represent "all things Mississippi". I didn't ask for this to happen and I'm VERY uncomfortable with the mantle. My only experience with the area is post-Katrina, and I'd hate for someone to judge my town after a riot, fire, landslide, etc. It'd be like … ummm … ok, it'd be like breaking out the day before your big blind-date. You'd HOPE that all the good stuff would shine through but, realistically, you'd realize that there was an elephant in the room or, in my given example, on your chin.

Anyway, here's my dilemma: A volunteer from a past volunteer work-week has arranged to be interviewed by their local newspaper in an effort to get more folks to support the Gulf. This is a good thing. Hell, this is a GREAT thing. And I'm ALLLLLL for it.

Except

having worked with this person for a solid week (and judging ONLY from that time together) I can honestly say that this person arrived with a specific notion, never saw past that notion, and left with that notion. And while their enthusiasm and heart is in the right place, I just know this person is gonna say something that's actually going to damage the trust, work, and respect-level that I've been TRYING to maintain.

Ya' know how there's always that one jerk reporter with the enormous microphone at the scene of a massive car crash? And he jams the mic into the face of a young child at the scene and barks "tell me how you're feeling right now" and as you're watching in horror, you just think "Oh, would somebody please drop a piano on this ass-clown"? I can close my eyes and actually see this person saying "Well, ya' know – they live in a crappy area anyway" or "It's not like they had that much to lose, really" or "Those that live down here should expect this sort of thing".

(Again – I have no tact, so maybe "ass-clown" isn't the word that springs to mind for you. It IS what comes to mine, but anywayyyyyy …)

So I need to tactfully ask this person to either cancel the interview, or get the questions in advance to prep them on their answers or (and this is what my manager wants me to do) be there sitting next to the person so as to prevent any "stupid answer" from happening. And I wanna be clear here – I don't care if the person being interviewed looks like a moron. Heck, I don't even care if the company comes off as looking bad. But I refuse to have ANY of the people that I've met in that region be judged so harshly. Especially by an ass-clown.