Point to Ponder: We all affect one another, regardless of paycheck or role, and we depend on one another to function as a whole. -- Rajiv Shah
In light of current situation and awakening of the importance of every job function I (Anand) felt this article is very timely reinforcement of the message. ❤️🙏🏼
STORYLINE by Rajiv Shah originally published on November 24, 2011.
I have been absent from writing Friday Reflections and am welcoming this opportunity to return by writing about a play I was recently in, DAY OF ABSENCE. The play was a unique, fictional account of what would happen if a group of workers (primarily nannies, farmers, and laborers) disappeared from a fictional town in the United States.
I believed this was a fictional account, and indeed when the play was performed (in 1965) it was, until I came across an article in USA Today detailing the mass exodus of immigrants from Alabama towns after courts passed harsh anti-immigrations laws allowing law enforcement to detain any immigrants suspected of being illegal in this country. Further, it requires schools to verify immigration status of their students. What has transpired is that a large portion of Alabama's labor force has simply vanished from the town all together. Farms have been left unharvested, grocery stores have found their business drop 60%, and schools found 2,300 students missing from their classrooms. Whole neighbourhoods have become ghost towns virtually overnight with furniture and belongings left in the now abandoned houses.
The effects have been substantial and Alabama is trying to find solutions to their now suddenly vacant labor force.
REFLECTION
We all affect one another, regardless of paycheck or role, and we depend on one another to function as a whole. Sometimes within our own companies it is difficult to fully grasp the impact an employee makes to the whole, positively or adversely. Alabama respresents a extraordinary circumstance but exemplifies that we often need each other more than we care to acknowledge. We see the position one fills more than we see the person and the actions we take always affect one another, even if they are not immediately visible, especially when we only see that person's position and not their humanity.
and profound wisdom of a reader:
Interesting discussion about how the US people or state governments feel about or respond to immigrants (legal or otherwise). The Alabama story reminds me of the book Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) though the twist is that this time it's the average workers who stopped working, no the leaders.
On another point in line with the reflection above, I once heard a tale of a school teacher (university professor?) who included a problem on his test, at the end of the semester, to write down the name of the janitor who cleans the classroom...
Good reminder to respect and get to know the people around us, regardless of apparent status or position.
Comments
Friend
I like that story and even about the jAnitor.
Posted by: Friend | December 01, 2016 at 10:42 PM
Elaine Suki
Hmm. ....interesting.....oh, yes! We need each other to create an impact ...whether it's for relationship, home affairs or business affairs. We rely one another for a different finishes.
Posted by: Elaine Suki | December 01, 2016 at 10:45 PM
Mark Dennen
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
John Donne
Posted by: Mark Dennen | December 02, 2016 at 07:14 AM
Lonnie Hurst
This is a fabulous reminder that people count. I will make an exception and say that people that want to count make a difference.
In today's world many come to a country not to contribute but to get what they can for free. That is not about your beautiful story that makes me reflect on my work history.
Several times during my career I have seen management make terrible decisions that caused over hiring and later caused terrible layoffs or workforce reductions. In one case the accountants thought they could save a lot of money by getting rid of the older and more highly paid employees from the production line. In less than three months they couldn't successfully get some of their product out the door. They had saved money and created a brain-drain and the younger workers, who got paid less, didn't know how to fix problems because they hadn't been on the job long enough. The company ended up hiring many of the laid-off or forced retirement employees back at very high salaries to get them to come back.
In another case, my job was to go out and close facilities ( I did that for almost three years) and in most cases the employees and the stockholders suffered not because of the employees but because they weren't willing to get rid of bad management as opposed to getting rid of good employees. The employees suffered, their families suffered, and their communities suffered.
Over the years I have taught a lot of leadership classes and coached many people and have found that there are few simple decisions that don't have long-term effects. I was also a lobbyist for over 10 years and found government officials and elected officials many times make a decision to fix a problem that they see or perceive today and the downside repercussions far outweigh the short-term gain.
My advice to decision makers is to think about both the short-term and long-term effects and who will be affected before making many of their decisions. It is not easy to do but as Rajiv Shah's story shows people decided to "scratch an itch" and didn't really care about or think about the consequences over time.
Posted by: Lonnie Hurst | December 02, 2016 at 07:18 AM
BHSC
When I was single and in my late 20’s, I went out on a date with a woman I had admired for years. She was very elegant and beautiful and just a few years older than me that made her all the more mysterious. We were having a nice dinner at a little Italian restaurant in San Carlos. The waitress came by to ask if we wanted more bread (or water, I can’t quite recall) and my date dismissed her like she was insignificant. I felt horrible and remember leaving an extra big tip for the waitress.
I never went out with that beautiful woman again, even though she was very open to more dates.
I knew all I needed to know about her.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Posted by: BHSC | December 02, 2016 at 08:17 AM
Thomas
The divisions we use to distinguish "us" from "them" are artificial and temporary; creations of man. Every person you meet is a child of God, no more and no less.
Posted by: Thomas | December 02, 2016 at 11:21 AM
Malaysian in Korea.
Nice Story.. although re-post, the current political situation warrants this re-post, whether the migrants came on the Mayflower or on Air India or air China…they hv contributed a significant portion to the country.
Posted by: Malaysian in Korea. | December 02, 2016 at 03:21 PM
sujat
Very thoughtful reflection, and nicely written. This punch line by Rajiv is powerful - "We all affect one another, regardless of paycheck or role, and we depend on one another to function as a whole."
Just like a wrist watch or a clock: the timepiece is necessarily the sum of all the individual parts working as an integrated whole. Without even one or two, it would be just a paperweight.
Posted by: sujat | May 25, 2020 at 09:42 AM
Posted by: FR team. Comments in past publishing | May 28, 2020 at 08:45 PM
Totally agree on this timely post. It is a sad reality that we don’t value the contributions of all members of society equally, though we know that everyone’s effort is indeed needed for society to function. I remember the story from Alabama very well when some politicians and officials tried to scare undocumented immigrants, which resulted in fruit and vegetable crops being left to rot unharvested in the field. Now with the societal upheaval of Covid-19, we realize once again the role and importance of all the workers in the various retail, restaurant, food, drug and service sectors, many of whom toil unseen in the background. Along with the health care, postal and delivery service employees, all of these other workers are also essential. They are the unsung heroes without whose efforts we will all remain hungry or sick!
Posted by: Concerned | May 30, 2020 at 07:57 AM