Survivor: Guatemala - Outyell, Outscream, Outbully?

Much has already been made of the fact that this is one of the more physical seasons of Survivor. Accordingly, the weakest have been the most vulnerable. How much different is this season from Vanuatu, when the strong were targeted almost from the get-go? But then, that’s part of the beauty of Survivor. Each cast is different, as well as each locale, and what works in one season may doom your torch in the next.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the one of the evictees and the tribal council that led to her doom. When the game began, Margaret seemed so full of promise, and looked like she might stay around a while, due in no small part to her nursing skills. However, once Brooke was given her walking papers, Margaret was a bit like the Atlanta Falcons after losing Michael Vick a season or so back. She was never quite the same, and just as the Falcons missed the playoffs, Margaret missed the merge.

Did her tribe make the right decision by ousting her? And could she have saved herself? From a physical standpoint, the tribe probably made the right decision, and certainly from a team cohesion standpoint. Yes, Judd put one over on her, but she didn’t do herself any favors by giving off “negative energy,” as Rafe put it. Ironically, she claimed Judd was his own biggest enemy, but the same could easily be said about her as well.

On the other hand, she certainly behaved better than Judd at tribal council (but who didn’t?). When she stated her points about Judd being a bully and not listening to anyone except himself, she did so calmy, and Judd couldn’t help but cut her off.

Now, Judd alleges that when he first walked into camp, Margaret told him he had ADD (attention deficit disorder). Let’s assume for the second that she did. He’s right when he says this is no way to greet somebody and it wasn’t a compliment. But does his behavior prove her point? Not necessarily.

I think his behavior simply proves that Judd is civility-challenged and intolerant, and this has nothing to do with ADD. One of my pet peeves is when someone behaves inappropriately and it gets blamed on ADD.

First of all, I’m willing to bet that there are people out there who act like Judd and it has nothing to do with ADD; rather, that’s just who they are. Second, I’ve known my share of people who DO have ADD and don’t act anything like that.

If you’re wondering why I’m on my soapbox about this, yes, I have ADD, having been diagnosed when I was preschool age. While I have my moments, I do not act like Judd and openly diss people the way he did Margaret. Yes, Judd has poor impulse control, an ADD characteristic, but I can’t help but wonder if the extra booze in his system had something to do with that.

Now to be fair, there’s a question of whether or not Margaret even said that. Yes, she ignored him when he asked her whether or not she said that, but she did say Judd had a problem with recall. That leads me to think the comment was never uttered. Plus, I would think that of all people, a nurse would know better than to say that to someone. If Margaret was on trial for saying it and I was the judge, I’d have to find her not guilty by reason of insufficient evidence.

Let’s ask a few questions about Judd. Does he think that the louder he screams, the more he cuts people off, the more profanity he uses, the more valid his point becomes? Frankly, it’s my belief that the more blatantly you try to bully and intimidate someone, the less validity your position probably has.

Once, in the workplace, a certain supervisor and I had issues with each other, and we took it to the department head. This supervisor tried to intimidate me into agreeing with him, and even asserted that I KNEW that what he was saying was true. Instead, I told him he had a lot of gall presuming to speak for me. He had also showed me up before this and insulted me in front of some other workers, and had no idea how inappropriate his behavior was until the department head told him. He seemed genuinely shocked that he hadn’t handled the matter properly, and apologized.

Similarly, Judd seems to be clueless about how boorish his behavior is. After all, how many people did he cut off? Besides Margaret, there was Cindy, Rafe, Stephenie, and even Jeff Probst. The sad thing is, he seems to be getting away with it, at least for now.

Then again, maybe Judd’s tribe, for the most part, has no problem with him. Could it be that his New York accent simply makes him sound more abrasive than he really is to my Texan ears? For insight, I turned to Rachel, an RNO reader and like Stephenie, a resident of Philadelphia, which is, as she put it, 90 miles away from the Big Apple, but 1000 miles apart in lifestyle.

Her response: “I lived in San Francisco when I was younger, and people thought I had a bad attitude because of the way I talked; I didn't have a bad attitude, it just an ingrown northeastern way of talking.”

So maybe it’s all a matter of perception, and to be fair, I’m not sure how I would come across to a group of New Yorkers or New Englanders with my Texas drawl.