Permission or forgiveness?

Since every other word on here is adoption, adoption, Cody, adoption, ADOPTION, you may have a hard time believing what I'm about to say:

Ahem.

There are still people in this world that don't know Jonathan and I are hoping to adopt a baby.

Yes, it's true. We are, however, on a mission to change that. =) One of the strategies my Adoption Bible suggests is to make sure all co-workers are aware of our plan and have access to our contact information. Maybe they know somebody who knows somebody... you know the drill.

Yesterday I e-mailed my supervisor, asking him if I could send a short e-mail to all special ed staff in my department. This e-mail would explain our desire to adopt a baby and list our contact information so they could have it on hand. Long story short, he didn't know the answer and passed the buck to his supervisor. She said, nope, can't do it. She was kind and offered alternatives, but was very clear that an e-mail such as this would violate our district's "acceptable use policy."

I get it. (Although I must admit that my first response was to cross my arms, pout at the computer, and say "But so-and-so sent out an all-staff e-mail trying to sell her TRUCK! No fair." Mature, huh?) If I had given it a little more thought, I would've realized that "no" is probably the only answer they could give me. I would be using a professional avenue to disseminate personal information and a school district can't go on the record saying, "Sure, go ahead."

With that said, I think they would have happily turned a blind eye if I had just done it. By asking permission, I forced them to answer with an official policy. And official policies always err on the side of caution. So the moral of the story is... I should do whatever I want. Ha! No, I'm kidding. But in some situations it makes more sense to ask for forgiveness rather than permission and I do believe this was one of them.