In American political life we are once again being reminded of the importance of documenting things so that you can go back to the notes when things get a little weird. Former FBI director James Comey was known for taking notes or memos. He would make these to document when things were out of the ordinary. FBI notes have been admissible in court and are highly regarded. Comey took notes on meetings with President Trump. He noted the conversation where Trump, without anybody else in the room, asked Comey to drop the Flynn investigation. These memos are now just another scandal for the Trump administration. Long after Comey was fired and out of power his documentation could possibly set the record straight in a way his former boss never imagined. A nation waits for that documentation.
I long ago valued the importance of documentation. When I took a part time job as a waiter at a restaurant my boss did not pay me while I was training. That was against state law. I quit but I also was going to demand I got paid for the work I had done. I did not know how unscrupulous this owner was going to be so I brought a tape recorder in with me and hid it in my pocket when I went in to confront him. When faced with state law he agreed to pay me. The recording was never needed but I did see the value in having it.
When I first started booking comedy shows I did not use a contract. I was young and naïve. A contract is documentation on the terms of the agreement. Well after not getting paid for a job once I never made that mistake again. Every show I do has a contract and on a few occasions it has won me court cases.
It is so much easier to document things now with better and cheaper technology. Everything has a recording device in it and video recorders are cheap. Even more and more police are using body cams which is documentation.
Good scammers use documentation. They keep notes on what their victims say. I keep notes when I talk to scammers. I keep better notes then they do and I get to trip them up on their own words. It is quite enjoyable to watch a scammer hang by the noose they created.
Just recently somebody who I had thought was a friend tried to hurt my career. I had been warned about this person but I give everybody a chance. I posted something on Facebook. (I discussed what I posted on the radio show a few weeks ago). She took offense to it and thought it was directed at her. She asked me about it in a private message. She kept on insisting I was angry. I was not and told her as much. I thought we had solved the issue. I was mistaken as she blocked me mid-conversation. Ok, I figured end of that relationship. Unfortunate but it was her choice and I was fine with it. Today I find out that she is lying to other people in the industry about what my initial post was and the conversation we had. It was potentially costing me work. Fortunately, I have the documentation of what I originally posted and the conversation we had. I called up the people that I knew had heard the lies from her. They were relying on hearsay. I had the evidence if it was needed. We had a discussion and the air was cleared. We are all fine. The woman that started this mess? Well she will never work for me again. She is no longer working with the club she was partnering with. She never was working for the other booker. She wound up hurting herself. As for me, I never really worried because I had the documentation to back up my story. Documentation always has your back!