Mike and Ploy

Look outside, turn on the TV, open a book or look at magazines.   Unless you’re a hermit and were raised by wolves, you probably know that this world is made up of people.   They’re everywhere – your mom and dad, sister, brother, coworker, bus driver, and even the dude at 7-11.

And people are cool:  The smile, they talk, and they have feelings.   If someone falls down, someone else will ask if they’re ok.  If someone gets hurt, we all grimace with empathy.  We can come together to celebrate an occasion, and we can bond during a disaster – people are amazing.

So when did this world stop being about people?Confused?  Well, let me give you some examples.  The next time you walk down the street, look at the people – What do you see?  If you see a policeman, fireman, or metermaid, what are your thoughts?  How about a person in a Giant’s uniform?  What about the Dodgers?  Enter a courtroom and view a judge – or see the garbage man on his morning run?

My point is that we do not immediately think about the uniqueness of the person, but rather the stereotype of the institution they could possibly represent.  If you dislike policemen, then you’ll have an affinity toward viewing them on the street – irregardless if you actually know the person or not.  And then there’s those awkward instances when someone makes a degrading comment about a particular group and you interject “But I’m …”  Awkward…

So there’s a word “Institution”.  When did our institutions become greater than the people that make them up?  I think somewhere where money became more important than someone’s life.  Think about it – companies are stating about how good they are to their people, but in only as so much as it actually helps them.  Happy workers  = better productivity.  Incentives/rewards = motiviation.  Charity is good for morale and public image.   But each day there are cutbacks and outsourcing – things are shutting down to save money, to be more efficient.  All in the name of competition and maximizing.

We don’t want to believe this of course.  There’s even a TV show now “Undercover Boss”, the reality show about a boss who doesn’t know what his most basic workers go through.  Each episodes has several workers who go through their tragic stories and are rewarded in the end for their hard work.  Methinks the producers pre-screen and set these up specifically for the audience effect.  While great (if it’s true), there are tens of thousands of other workers.

Once upon a time, there were the ideas of loyalty, commitment and dedication.  For instance:  ”The HP Way” was founded by Hewlett and Packard.  They treated each person as individuals, and workers were proud to work for them.  Families bonded, and employees wanted to be there.  But today?

I don’t know quite where this is going.  Maybe we all just need to be reminded that the world is made up of people.  Over 7 billion – yes, that’s a lot.  But we’re all individuals.  We all have a mother, father, relationships.  And each thing we do not only affects us, but others.

What would you think of a stranger, if you suddenly found out he was a neighbor, or a family member?