Global Family... We Are Much More Alike Than We Are Different.
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by: Guest
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Dear Esteemed Reader
Our species encompasses a giant global family that spans
planet earth, and we are all much more alike than we are
different. We share the same basic human drives, including
the need to survive and feel safe. We all need a sense of
belonging in order to live fully and fulfill our creative potential.
In order to envision and realize our dreams, however,
we need to have confidence in ourselves. Nonetheless, for
complex reasons, most people tend to focus more on our
differences--how much money we make or don't make, our
level of education, our level of skill in the work we do, and
how much "stuff" we own--not to mention our differing
religious or cultural backgrounds and belief systems. We
allow these often-superficial differences to serve as dividing
walls between us--or worse, to pit us against one another,
separately or as groups or nations. Think of what life might
be like if this were not the case!
We also live in a society that worships celebrities, professional
athletes, and other often obscenely wealthy people,
considering them the "best of the best." With this blind adoration
and envy of their career successes and, most of all,
their privileged, jet-set lifestyles, what we often fail to take
into account is the invisible support system enjoyed and
taken for granted by these VIPs--and indeed, to some
extent, by all of us. Without the critical support of the socalled
"little people," their lives, and ours, would quickly
come to a grinding halt!
What is this support system? For the privileged few, this
might include their agents, accountants, managers, and
publicists. It also includes their hairdressers, housekeepers,
makeup artists, limo drivers, and others. In this country, 58
percent of the population are engaged in so-called "blue-collar"
occupations and subsist on median incomes averaging
$42,000. These unsung and certainly underpaid workers, to
me, are as valuable as our society's "stars." After all, when
a water pipe bursts, who becomes the most important person
in your life: a rocket scientist, a mathematician, a brain
surgeon--or your plumber?
That's what this book is about--the behind-the-scene people
we tend to overlook, the common men and women
who enhance our everyday lives. They deserve our recognition
and appreciation. They also deserve to value themselves
more than most of them do. Look around--we're
everywhere, just doing our jobs with dedication, often
going far beyond the expected to keep things moving along
smoothly, and to make life more livable and enjoyable for
all of us.
In his recent documentary, "Comic," Jerry Seinfeld tells
this story: "I was dragging myself back to a comedy club
to do my act. I didn't want to do it, just was not in the
mood. Then I watched a group of construction workers
return to their jobs. Those men were clearly exhausted,
the sun was hot.... They did not want to go back up the
scaffold and do hard physical labor in that hot sun. But
they did go back, because it was their job. At that moment
I had a revelation. My job is so much easier. If they went
back, how could I not?!"
Let's for a moment imagine that we are in a large city when
there is a sudden storm, complete with gusty winds and
thunderous rains. And let's say that just at that moment, the
sanitation workers union goes on strike, and the garbage of
8 million residents goes uncollected. Soon there is pile upon
pile of overflowing garbage bags, emitting noxious odors
that are going uncollected, graveyards of broken furniture
piling up in the streets, and oversized cardboard boxes filling
the sidewalks, all thoroughly drenched. At this juncture,
what is the value of the sanitation worker--these hardworking
people who keep our cities clean? Who would
you most want to see on the job that day--the sanitation
worker or yet another lawyer or stockbroker?
This rhetorical question once again goes to the heart of this
book's contention that all are equal, all play a critical part,
and also that we are only as strong as our weakest link. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. elegantly expressed this idea when
he said: "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should
sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted, or
Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven
and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street
sweeper who did his job well."
Along the same lines, picture what would happen if there
were to be the sudden resignation of the entire maintenance
crew of a high-rise co-op building. Let's throw in
mechanical failure--a defective generator, a frozen pipeline,
a faulty fuse. Soon, all 600 inhabitants would have no heat
or air-conditioning, no running water, no elevator. Soon this
co-op's well-heeled shareholders would be rushing down
the staircases, pushing and shoving as they run into the
street to join the long line outside the one bathroom in the
local Starbucks! Others would be in long lines that wrap
around the neighborhood stores that are rapidly running
out of bottled water and space heaters. Let's add an outside
temperature of minus 20 degrees and a heavy snowfall.
Where is the building's support staff when you need them?
The nerve of those people to want to earn a living wage just
for keeping this building operating smoothly!
Consider the Blackout of 2003, which affected all of New
York City and its surrounding areas, and extended up into
Canada and as far away as the Midwest. We sophisticated
human beings in the 21st century take for granted the light
bulb and all the other daily necessities that rely on electricity.
On one extremely hot, muggy day in August, the scenario
described in the previous paragraph actually took
place when the entire Northeast electrical grid in the United
States shut down for anywhere from five to 48 hours.
Residents of these areas were without air-conditioning or
water in their homes. Hoards of people waited in line for
water and gas for their cars as well as the opportunity to use
a public restroom. Hundreds were stranded for hours in
underground subways. When they finally made it home,
they huddled next to battery-operated radios in darkness,
save for the flickering light from whatever candles they
might have had on hand, listening frantically for news as to
when their power would return. Still others were stuck in
massive traffic jams due to a lack of working traffic lights,
with no way to contact their loved ones, since their cell
phones were no longer operable.
Hospitals and other such institutions were trying to take
care of their patients with the back-up generators they had
on hand, some of which failed. Restaurants and grocery
stores lost thousands of dollars in spoiled food, and companies
whose computers would not turn on lost valuable
hours of productivity. As the Mayor of New York City stated
on the radio, the only essential employees during the
blackout who needed to report to work were those who
could fix the actual problems, as well as medical and
telecommunications personnel. Everyone else could not get
to their jobs--nor were they encouraged to until power
was fully restored.
Taking these real circumstances to their logical conclusion is
to understand and accept that we humans rely on each
other, and that any missing link will break the vital chain.
With this reasoning, it is easy to see why every man or
woman, no matter what their occupation, is a worthwhile
person in more ways than a million.
This book is about, and for, the "working people" and
what they--you and I--contribute to daily life, every
moment of every day. The individuals profiled in this book
are genuine composites of real people working in and
around New York City. I am one of those people. Together,
our numbers are legion.
We are the backbone, the life force, and the dynamic energy
that move the wheels of society forward. The more we
respect ourselves, the more others will give us the respect
we so richly deserve. Sometimes, however, we are too close
to our own lives, too busy doing what we do, to see how
important our contributions are to those around us, and to
the world at large. This book is my attempt to fill that gap
and provide you with the perspective you need to value
yourself as richly and completely as you should.
Welcome to my world. And get ready for some surprises!
Related: Global Family... We Are Much More Alike Than We Are Different.
Additional information:
Undergraduate food science programs in the United States face declining enrollments that could lead to a shortage of food scientists, but efforts.
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