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The Power of Acknowledgement - short anecdote

Ulf K. Maier

Patron Meritorious
Hello, all :hattip:

I recall clearly one muster of the OEC/FEBC trainees outside the Theory/Practical Courseroom at ITO. This was the one on the left all the way down the hall from HCO/Ethics. At the time, we had an RTC/CMOI mission fired in. I'm not sure who exactly the Mission I/C was, but the Mission 2nd was "Mr" James Byrne, I believe the husband of the late Enid of AOLA.

Anyway, we were standing at parade rest being briefed by the missionaire. He was walking back and forth in front of the group. As luck would have it, I was in the front row. He stopped right in front of me and regarded me as he might a nearly 2-metre pile of cow dung. I had the good sense (?) to keep looking straight ahead.

He said,"You are one ugly motherfucker."
I said brightly,"Thank you, sir!"

You could hear all these trainees behind me quietly "Ooooo"ing, as if in anticipation of the whip coming down, or the swagger stick, as it were. :ohmy:

He barked,"Silence! What was wrong with that? You could all learn something! THAT was a proper acknowledgement!"

I smiled broadly, albeit internally, while maintaining a textbook TR0.

I got "$ci-cred"... My mates were suitably impressed.

Maybe someone on the board was there. I'd love to hear from you.

This thread is dedicated, with love, to the wonderful Ms. X :heartflower:
 

Dulloldfart

Squirrel Extraordinaire
If James Byrne were on internet forums, I think he would be a troll. He used to like being outrageous and often invalidative just to cause an effect.

I remember a similar muster at ITO with the ITO crew. He wanted to make a point on the subject of "purpose," and picked me out and said "Walk down the corridor with purpose." So I did. He was suitable impressed with the "dedicated glare" and so forth, and made an appropriate validative acknowledgement to me. Then he turned to the crew and snarkily said, "Ah, but does he normally walk around like that?"

The funny thing was the general answer he got was "yes, he does." Which deflated him considerably. :)

The main reason I walked or ran around outside the courseroom like that was I was terrified of being comm eved for leaving the courseroom unattended (I was a sup) the odd time I had to run down to course admin or something. It wasn't exactly my dedication to KSW.

Paul
 

Ulf K. Maier

Patron Meritorious
I seem to remember passing by that muster, or one just like it...

If James Byrne were on internet forums, I think he would be a troll. He used to like being outrageous and often invalidative just to cause an effect.

I remember a similar muster at ITO with the ITO crew. He wanted to make a point on the subject of "purpose," and picked me out and said "Walk down the corridor with purpose." So I did. He was suitable impressed with the "dedicated glare" and so forth, and made an appropriate validative acknowledgement to me. Then he turned to the crew and snarkily said, "Ah, but does he normally walk around like that?"

The funny thing was the general answer he got was "yes, he does." Which deflated him considerably. :)

The main reason I walked or ran around outside the courseroom like that was I was terrified of being comm eved for leaving the courseroom unattended (I was a sup) the odd time I had to run down to course admin or something. It wasn't exactly my dedication to KSW.

Paul

Byrne was very 1.1, wasn't he then? Probably still is.

I remember another occasion when he was addressing the students. he remarked once (can't remember the context) of Al Baker,"... if not, I'll paint you white!" (for those who don't know, Al is Black) I believe everyone's gaze went to the target's face. He laughed, and then we were suitably able to chuckle, albeit briefly. South African racism, lovely, that.

It's a shame he's a Scientologist, because I found Al (and a number of the staff) very human and personable, though some were mocking up this pseudo-RTC personality. Cold, chrome steel my farking arse. I believe I heard Al's CO ITO now.

As a former course sup, I relate very much with that bit about always looking on-purpose while having to leave the courseroom...
 

Dulloldfart

Squirrel Extraordinaire
It's a shame he's a Scientologist, because I found Al (and a number of the staff) very human and personable, though some were mocking up this pseudo-RTC beingness. I believe I heard Al's CO ITO now.

He [Al] was CO ITO at one point, I heard. But he's out now. He has a Facebook account, but didn't respond to my "Hi Al" message. Not surprising as he has lots of churchie FB friends and no exey FB friends.

Paul
 
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afaceinthecrowd

Gold Meritorious Patron
He was CO ITO at one point, I heard. But he's out now. He has a Facebook account, but didn't respond to my "Hi Al" message. Not surprising as he has lots of churchie FB friends and no exey FB friends.

Paul

James Byrne is a 10th Degree A-hole...he was that way from the get-go on the Apollo. He's one the folks that actively help make the SO what it is.

Face:)
 

Ulf K. Maier

Patron Meritorious
He's got a shot at coming all the way out, now...

He [Al] was CO ITO at one point, I heard. But he's out now. He has a Facebook account, but didn't respond to my "Hi Al" message. Not surprising as he has lots of churchie FB friends and no exey FB friends.

Paul

It's good to hear he's out of the SO. Now there's a chance he'll read ESMB, and maybe even buy that bass guitar he was dreaming about... :coolwink:
 

ULRC/S

Patron with Honors
I've got an Al Baker story. I was doing the Tech Trs Crse at Flag in '77, and Al and mexican sup were twinning in Trs in the same space us us. Tr BB time, and it was getting high gradient. The Mexican (can't remeber his name) pretending to kiss Al. Al would flinch and get flunked, untilhe actually stood still for a kiss.

Then some student texan asshole in the room pipped up loud: "Hey look, the wetback's kissin the nigger" and of course the whole room broke up. Took ages to flatten it.

Regards, Allen
 

Ulf K. Maier

Patron Meritorious
Sign of the times

I've got an Al Baker story. I was doing the Tech Trs Crse at Flag in '77, and Al and mexican sup were twinning in Trs in the same space us us. Tr BB time, and it was getting high gradient. The Mexican (can't remeber his name) pretending to kiss Al. Al would flinch and get flunked, untilhe actually stood still for a kiss.

Then some student texan asshole in the room pipped up loud: "Hey look, the wetback's kissin the nigger" and of course the whole room broke up. Took ages to flatten it.

Regards, Allen

Thanks for your story, Allen.

You don't mention the part where the Texan is forced to do lower conditions, and receive sec checks at his org's expense. Then again, it was 1977...
 

Veda

Sponsor
If James Byrne were on internet forums, I think he would be a troll. He used to like being outrageous and often invalidative just to cause an effect.

I remember a similar muster at ITO with the ITO crew. He wanted to make a point on the subject of "purpose," and picked me out and said "Walk down the corridor with purpose." So I did. He was suitable impressed with the "dedicated glare" and so forth, and made an appropriate validative acknowledgement to me. Then he turned to the crew and snarkily said, "Ah, but does he normally walk around like that?"

The funny thing was the general answer he got was "yes, he does." Which deflated him considerably. :)

The main reason I walked or ran around outside the courseroom like that was I was terrified of being comm eved for leaving the courseroom unattended (I was a sup) the odd time I had to run down to course admin or something. It wasn't exactly my dedication to KSW.

Paul

On the topic of "walking with purpose":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbEVhaOWJnA
 

ULRC/S

Patron with Honors
You don't mention the part where the Texan is forced to do lower conditions, and receive sec checks at his org's expense. Then again, it was 1977...

Exactly. No fuss at all, he just had to repeat his remark unill the room settled down, no other fuss. Pretty cool supervisor - ex Vietnam marine with an artificial leg. Anyone know his name?

Regards, Allen
 
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