Wency Ortega “Loves to Talk” and “Knows It All”

You know how people get labeled all the time?  Well, I am no exception to this rule.  It seems that people who know me have certain perceptions of me, and they have seemed to follow me around.  There is obviously some truth to how I am perceived, but like all things, the perception is skewed by each person’s own experience.  Still, having said this, there are two main labels that seem to stick to Wency Ortega.

 

Label #1.  Wency Ortega “knows everything”.  We are not talking about a literal sense here.  We are talking about the “that guy can never be wrong” sense.  “Don’t even argue with him, just tell him he’s right…”

 

Label #2.  Wency Ortega loves to talk.  He likes to hear himself talk.  Don’t let Wency get started because you’ll never get a word in.

 

Yep, these two have followed me around as long as I can remember.  And as I said, there is some truth to them, but they are far from being absolutes.  I am going to address each of these briefly.

 

#1.  Wency Ortega Knows Everything.  This perception came about because of my inclination to argue points that I know I am right about, and that others are incorrect about.  If I engage someone in a discussion where there are opposing arguments, and I know that I am right.  I will not back down because it bothers me to hear people spread incorrect information.  I am very fact driven.  I am a Math Teacher after all, and mathematics, the majority of the time, deals with absolutes.  Five times six IS thirty (in the base 10 system of course), and there is no disputing that.  So argue that it’s equal to 31 without any basis, and I will grill you on it.

 

Now due to my “argumentative nature, people have this notion that I contest EVERYTHING.  This is totally wrong.  If people are discussing topics about which I know nothing or very little, I will not enter the discussion.  In fact, unless it’s something that at least interests me, I will walk away.  Also, if there is an opinion that is being shared, I will share my opinion and defend my opinion, without telling the other person that they are wrong.  I will simply justify MY point of view.  But, don’t shoot out information that I know to be wrong, because I will step in and correct you.  It’s the teacher in me, I guess.  We should all be educated and speak in such a way, otherwise we will be looked upon as ignorant.  How does that saying go?  Oh yeah, it is better to shut up and appear ignorant (or in some cases, stupid) than speak up and remove all doubt.  My wife’s problem with this is that she thinks that I am purposely trying to make people feel stupid, when in reality all I’m trying to do is inform them of the facts.  That’s all.  (Unless I don’t like you, in which case, I may be trying to make you feel stupid, but that wouldn’t be very Christian of me, so I try to avoid that.)  If this offends anybody, I’m sorry, it is truly not my intent.  But if you are sharing information, then it’s probably because you are trying to do the same thing, so I figure that makes all conversation points fair game.  So next time there is a discussion and I am around, pay attention to what I am doing. You may realize that I really DON’T think that I am a know it all.

 

#2. Wency Ortega loves to talk. Here I must say that there can be nothing farther than the truth.  I actually don’t need to talk.  Ever.  I am totally fine with being quiet, and being alone with my thoughts.  I am actually quite shy by nature and, in particular with people I don’t know, would rather keep to myself.  So why this perception? 

 

Well, though I’m not a very big talker, I am wordy.  When I do talk, I have a way of using as many words as possible to share my thoughts.  I could take something that could be said in three words and explain it in a full paragraph.  And I would still feel that I didn’t make myself very clear.  I never had a problem writing a term paper of any amount of pages because before I knew it I’d already reach the minimum number of pages.  Anyone who has read this blog spot, has probably finished reading one of my blogs and said, “Wow, that was one LOOOOOOOOOOOONG blog”.  Heck, I do that when I go back to read what I just wrote.  But, if I could figure out a way to speak using fewer words, trust me I would. 

 

If you don’t believe that I am not a big talker, just ask my family.  Dania wishes I spoke more, and the kids probably wish the same thing.  Unless engaged I usually keep my thoughts to myself.  Now, this does not mean that I’m not social.  I like being around people, and if the right topic of conversation comes up, I love to start talking about it.  But if I get long winded it is only because that’s how I am.

 

When leading a retreat many times I have been asked to give a talk or a faith witness to the participants. Or when I’ve run meetings, I’ve had to run through a series of topics that must be discussed during that meeting.  It is in THESE situations that my wordiness comes to light.  I have trouble keeping a talk to 30 minutes.  I always feel like there is more to say, and I don’t want to cheat anyone out of important information pertinent to the topic I am discussing (I guess this is the tie in to #1 above).  And when I am running a meeting, I like to make sure that all possible angles are covered regarding a particular topic being discussed so that if a choice needs to be made or a vote taken, that everyone is fully informed and can make their best judgment on what’s been discussed.  It is because of times like these that I think people have gotten the perception that I love to talk.  I guess it’s more that I want to be thorough in what I say so that I won’t have to repeat myself.  Does that make sense?  I hope so.

 

(A little aside here… when I led the Columbus Encounter in high school, we all had an opportunity to share for one minute or so what we learned during the three days there.  My one minute went on for 20 minutes.  Apparently I learned a lot, but I also took FOREVER expressing that.  To this day I get ribbed about this by those who were there and didn’t fall asleep during my little recap.)

 

Wow, another long blog for another otherwise simple topic.  I know people who could have blogged all this same info in 4 sentences.  More power to them.  I’ll stick with being me, I guess.  Just don’t judge what you perceive too hastily.  There is more to me than meets your eye.