America & Its Heroes
Grow Up Already
It is about time that this country and those around the world grew up a bit. I mean, hasn’t man been on earth long enough to have matured a little more than we act? I take sport at separating the emotional and prima fascia from the root or underlying truths and issues. So often we create problems for ourselves.
A common problem is that of predisposed failure. How often have you seen a plan constructed where the outcome is failure? Never? Really? Have you ever looked at how most companies promote people? Let’s see, we take someone who is the best sales person, we promote him to manage the sales department. There he performs adequately. So we reward him by advancing him to operations manager. There he falters a bit but still is elevated to Director of operations. Now the best salesman is now expected to perform complex duties involving hiring, firing, dispute resolution, ROI and long term planning and more. He fails and is terminated. Why? he still had only the skill set of the best salesman. No education was provided or mandated. So now the sales person on whom praise was heaped is now a pariah
The United States Public is going through mental gyrations adjusting to terrorist threats on the home soil and other problems. More than ever we are looking for heroes. But, we have a history with our heroes an how we choose and treat them.
In my mind a hero is an average person, flawed, screwed up even, fighting their way through daily trials and tribulations. Suddenly they find themselves smack in the middle of something, disaster, conflict emergency, whatever. That person does not look the other way, does not continue pumping their gas as a person is shot and lies dying on the ground. This average person takes action, pitches in, without promise of riches and fortune, but because they know it is right. When such an action comes to light the media and self indulgent politicians want to be seen with them, rub up against them. As though through proximity they may shed some of there cowering shallowness may be replaced by such hubris. The “hero” is, in many cases unwillingly, catapulted to the level of Deity. But, alas as time passes, generally very quickly, those same people that elevated them to such heights start to attack and destroy them. Pointing out their flaws and failings rather than laud their positive actions.
We need to grow up and not only recognize that no one is perfect. We need to adjust the way we present such people and celebrate their acts. It is imperative that we accentuate the fact that we celebrate them because we accept that they are human and flawed. But, that when the call came they answered. While others stood and cowered or ran, they acted. There are stories all of the time lamenting the lack of societal involvement and caring. In light of the rewards for such action is there any wonder why?
Celebrate those average people that do important service to our communities and society.
Will Hemingway
