Understanding and Mutual Respect

This is purely a commentary that flows off of something a collaborator said yesterday. This person talked about his frustration that certain interests in Catawba County have a mutual concern about the bad economy in the area, but there isn't mutual respect. Until you get mutual respect, he is really worried about whether we can change the economic condition in this county. He would not elaborate on the who's who that created this thought and from the way he addressed this issue one could surmise that this was more than a one time incident. This was a pattern.

We have all seen this happen in this area. If it didn't have serious ramifications on our lives, it would be hilarious, but we have people in this community who are in positions of power who seem to thrive on ego trips and they are holding us back.

I am studying a concept called "Master Capacity Building" and I know that it is going to be a lot of hard work for me to succeed in changing who I am and how I accomplish goals and work with others to accomplish goals. But one thing I can tell you is that I am not an ego tripper. I want to work with others. I love working with others, like myself, who want to see everyone succeed and they understand that if we make it easier for middle class people to succeed, then our community will thrive.

I am not a patient person. I don't like to watch the years go by and see things not getting done. It is neither good for me personally nor the vast majority of people in this community. It makes me sick to see instances where Big Fish want to control the small pond and don't want to see the pond grow. They love the status quo.

Many times we have seen things happen, and fall into place, where progress is sabotaged by personal interests. I have spoken of this before and I understand this is the food chain of money and power, but in the times we are living in, we cannot afford to destroy the lives of many of our citizens to protect small pockets of interests in this community.

The things that I deal with are real. A few years ago, I bought into the political games and marched in lockstep with people who talked a good game about the issues I believed in, but in the end these people didn't deliver on promises even when they had it in their power to do so. People like this don't care about us as individuals. They are there to represent their own personal interests and the special interests who own them.

My mother almost died last week and she is still very sick in the hospital. She had a perforated ulcer and was rushed into surgery, which she was in for over 4 hours. This is a story that personally haunts me, because I have seen her struggle up close.

My mother worked a lot of hours at a job that paid her relatively little money for all of the work she was doing. She was working 60 hours a week at a time when she was on the verge of eligibility to retire, but could not afford to. Piles of work kept being added to her tasks, in a truly hostile work environment, where she was given no raises for this additional responsibility. She was stressed out and finally decided that she had to leave. Years of loyal work for this company netted her zero, zip, nada for her service after she left. She felt these people had run over her and the truth of the matter is that they had. My mother has had a hard time finding a job because of her age and she has so much experience in management positions that it is insane that no one will give her an opportunity.

The other week I saw her and she was worried because this company had messed up her COBRA payment. My mother was personally paying an exorbitant amount of money out of her own pocket by taking the check to the former employer and they were supposed to in turn forward money to the insurance company. She was informed by the insurance company that they had not received the payment, even though the check had been cashed. She called her former employer and they promised that they had paid the money, but in the end it turned out that they had not. Supposedly it was finally straightened out due to my mother's persistence and due diligence. Wouldn't that stress you out.

This is how idiots in the government solve big issues. They push the problem down the road and let someone else deal with it. They brag about the creation of COBRA, which no one can afford, especially after they lose their job. My neighbor was laid off and he couldn't afford that outrageous COBRA payment. The idiots in the government will talk about portability like they have done you a favor, because they are clueless.

These are typical cases of suffering happening in this community and many of the people in the most prominent positions of power don't care, because it's just a game to them. People that have jobs don't really understand how bad the economy is, but many of them are a couple of steps away from where my mother and my neighbor are.

One of my collaborators made a spot on statement the other day. Roadblocks (Hindrances) to progress come from Control, Power, Egos and Taking things personally. What people better grab a clue about is that what comes around goes around. One day you may have it tough and Karma will be there to do to you as you have done to others (or allowed to happen to others). I know that I am not going to forget what I have seen over the last several years and I know many others that won't forget either.

We need to see cooperation and collaboration in these times. Petty interests are inconsequential. Sadly, people want you to respect them for what they already think. What if what they think is obsolete?

We need leaders who don't think they know everything and are willing to listen and learn. We need leaders who have empathy for the people they serve. We need to see leaders lead by example. We need to see interests work together and set aside their ego for another day. Your legacy will not be credited while you are alive. It will be credited by the lasting things you do and the relationships you forge in good times and bad that stand the test of time.