Written by Robert D. Sollars
- Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Never a definitive sign of a potentially violent individual. However, this abuse can be a sign of someone who can be violent, to the Nth degree, & will fly off the handle at the slightest progression into that violence. The individual who abuses these substances may not even comprehend or know what they are actually doing, because of the drug-induced brain-rattling.
In my younger days, I was drunk a lot. I acted in one of 3 ways;
- I got real ‘handsy’ with any female close by.
- I got into a fighting mode and wanted to fight anyone and everyone who came close.
- I also could get morose, which defeated the purpose of getting drunk. In the first place
Unfortunately, left alone like that, there is no one to stop the wild stupid thoughts or actions that run through a person’s brain and cause them to do something completely and totally stupid.
Illegal drugs are another matter altogether. Driving their car naked, taking off their clothes and walking thru a discount store, being naked and jumping on cars and running barefoot on 120-degree asphalt, possibly just smashing windows in a strip mall parking lot…because they didn’t like looking at themselves.
- New fascination with Weapons
This fascination may not be anything but then again… Many people develop a fascination with bladed weapons or firearms later on in life. Some turn to hunting as a way to relax and get into nature. Other view firearms as a way to blow off steam at a firing range.
But if this fascination becomes a bit overpowering to the people closest to them and they begin to get scared… But being scared must be tempered with common sense as well. Just because someone is scared of firearms or bladed weapons, doesn’t mean that the other individual is going to kill them…can we say overreacting?
- Free Expression
There are many forms of free expression in today’s modern digital world. If you have someone dancing around a 20-ton press, and anodizing pool, or climbing on the railing with skateboards….
Writing poems, short stories, or novels, drawing pictures of violent content, or some things like this can be troubling to people. Keep in mind that some people do these things to relax and even blow off the steam of stress, frustration, and anxiety. What would have happened to Stephen King, Boris Vallejo, Dean Koontz, and others who did their stuff now? More than likely, they’d be arrested for making threats or sent to see a psychiatrist.
- Impact on supervisory/instructor time
Impacting on supervisory time will be more pronounced in adults than it is in teenagers. And it will accumulate over a period of time, possibly months. Rarely does someone take so much time it’s noticeable over a few days or weeks.
However, when you have someone that begins to take more time than others to assist, it may be worrisome to both productivity or other items. This is when someone begins to have issues and the superior needs to spend an ever-increasing amount of time counseling, coaching, reprimanding, or just talking to them. And as I said the amount of time will be accumulative.
One week they may spend 10 minutes a day with that person. The next week it’ll be 15, then 20. After a while, you may be looking at the fact that one individual is so monopolizing a supervisor’s/instructor’s time, that they don’t have the appropriate amount of time to give to others.
The discussions could be on a range of problems. Attendance issues, not properly shutting down a 50-ton press, reckless driving with a forklift, running willy nilly through the halls and running into others, or just plain discourteous behavior.
It happens to Anyone…Any Time… Anywhere… For any Reason
I May Be Blind, but My Vision Is Crystal Clear
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Copyright 2021 Robert D. Sollars
