To The Experts

I am SICK to death of experts. The financial experts have proven to not know so much, haven't they? The nutrition experts tell us one day we should not drink then the next day we are to drink a glass of wine daily. Butter is out then it is in; sugar is bad and then it is good. Coffee is awful and green tea is the thing until it is out and coffee cures cancer. I am waiting for the day that tobacco makes you live until you are one hundred...unless, of course, it kills you before that.



I have never put stock in what the experts have to say. In fact, I consider myself an expert in many areas, but in the real world, we call this an opinion. I am an expert in the area of teaching. This does not mean that I have a PHD in education, it means, through trial and error, I have figured out a way to teach just about anyone anything. The problem is, I can't really become an expert. It depends on what and who I am teaching. Those two small factors kind of change the check list for success.



And isn't that the problem with all experts. Most experts now a days are dealing with human behavior. The small problem is that every human being is different. While caffeine may not be great for everyone, it may be just the thing for the exhausted mom. Don't you have to know who you are talking to before you are able to give expert advice?



Now, I must make a distinction here. The experts I am talking about always seem to have more knowledge. These are the kind I am sick of. I do put a lot of stock in people with skill. Skill takes experience and practice. I will take advice from a mom who has gotten her kids to eat broccoli in a heart beat. The egg head expert on child development can go to hell. I want a surgeon who has done a thousand successful heart surgeries. The guy who worked for two years and then became an expert can write books because no one really wants him around with a knife. In my profession we saw it all the time. The experts had a PHD but very little class room experience. They gave great advice until you actually tired it.



I am sick of the experts who think they know you. I am sick of the sociologist who do not know a damn thing about me telling me what I don't know. I am sick of the experts invading every level of my life. Because they really don't have anything to offer. Nature is pretty simple. If you drink too much, you feel sick. If you take too much risk, you are bound to lose. If you do not have healthy relationships (love that term) you are probably not happy. Do we really need experts to tell us these things?



So to the experts all I have to say is: When you have four kids and a great husband, come and tell me about my life. Until then, the least you can do is call it an opinion.