I have known since late 1999 / early 2000 when a now former Knoxville News Sentinel Reporter asked me about a situation where I allegedly (by another person) phone pranked he and another person supposedly many times. I told the reporter face to face nope never happened, it was over for the reporter and I.
Over the years, I discovered several times, the other person would tell individuals (consulting clients and friends of mine) the same story and would say that law enforcement had talked to me and would cite someone that was once emoloyed at KCSO as his source. I would tell these folks, that isn’t true.
I know everytime I have talked to law enforcement (I have served terms as an appointee of the County Commission on the Knox County Jail Inspection Committee and the Knox County Sheriffs Department Merit Council. There’s no better friend to law enforcement than me)
I told my clients and friends, I will go talk to this individual and correct the lie, because you are not the first person, that has told me this. They would say oh just ignore him. We know if it were true, there would be a report that he could/would produce, it’s no big deal anyway. They would say the guy has an ego the size of the Sunsphere. Just let it go.
Finally, today I messaged the person and set the record straight. His only response “was tell it to (name withheld) he told me.” Well, that person isn’t the one that has spread a lie about me for years. As a matter of fact, I did talk to that person 6-8 years ago, he knows it didn’t happen.
Kudos to the former reporter for being man enough to ask me about it face to face. Unlike someone continuing to tell a story, that’s just a lie. To this persons credit (and I said this to them in the email exchange) you probably have told yourself this story so many times, you believe it happened. I am telling you it didn’t and your “source” said it didn’t happen.
This year I turn 49, anyone that knows me knows I always said of myself what became the story in the Eric Church song, “a man who was gonna die young.” Just as the story tells it, credit belongs to my wifey of 27 plus and counting years for being the one to make me wanna be the guy who changed his mind and wants to die old.
As the birthday nears, as great a feeling as it was to say to this person the lie you taught yourself for years is not true. I can envision a list forming to educate, enlighten many others that have crossed my path and they developed into my throng of haters. Because at 50, an age I never thought I would make, it would be awesome to know, all the haters have been schooled. The task for them is either accept it or keep lying to themselves and others.
