I was reading the other day about how the Army and Marines seem to be approving more and more waivers so convicted felons can enlist. Not everyone is happy about that in Congress, I am happy to note. It seems a little disconcerting that for something as important as our own national security and elective warmongering, our Department of Defense is cool pledging gang-bangers.
My fucking problem is that we seem, as a country and a society, to be comfortable with settling for less. And we are doing it in too many ways, big and small.
I bitch and moan about this after this word from WYFP Headquarters and a jump.
WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pootie pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?
Several years ago, when I was directing a planning group at a big ad agency, we were having a lot of difficulty keeping staff. It was during the dot com boom, and internet startups were paying big salaries, and my young media planners were getting lured away weekly. During that time, my good friend and associate director was constantly in my office telling me we needed to get more people and pay them more. I'd have to say it wasn't that easy. And then he'd say the words he knew would make me go fight for more resources:
Well, I guess I can always just lower my standards.
I hated when he would say that, because I knew he wasn't kidding.
These days, is it just me or are we just generally settling for less. Sure we say we want "quality" when we go buy something, but in general, think about this line from the late Warren Zevon's song, "Looking for the Next Best Thing:"
I appreciate the best but I'm settling for less. I'm just looking for the next best thing.
OK, maybe we're not compromising much here in DK/WYFPland, but society does seems to be settling for less. Besides the DOD and it's felon-soldiers, I can think of other examples...
People will settle for inferior merchandise at places like Wal-Mart in the name of saving money. Never mind of the toys have lead paint.
We settle for the same-old, same-old for local elected officials (and some not-so-local). I believe more than half the seats on my county's board of supervisors went unchallenged this month. A third of the state legislature in Washington State ran unopposed. My local school board still has a vacancy because no one ran for an open seat. (That's how I became an apparently permanent library board president.)
We'll discover after we leave the drive-through that instead of a the Grilled McChicken we got a McRib (made with real pork!). Screwed up order? Oh well. Eat it anyway. (I said some of these were small. OK, petty.)
Teachers and professors will cave on a grade because some overbearing parent (or student) will pitch a fit over a grade, so the grade gets an upgrade. This essentially lowers the value of the A another student worked hard for. (Teachers and professors please don't flame me. I'm attempting to employ some rhetorical devices. I should get extra credit for that!)
Fuel economy. "Nuff said.
Customer Service seems to be housed either in a far-away land or, worse, in some labyrinth of "If yes, press or say 'one' now" server farms. (Thankfully, there are workarounds for the intrepid.)
Airlines seem to be willing to play fast and loose with the maintenance standards. Whether long-time legacy carrier or bargain-fare industry darling, "good enough" is close enough.
Sometimes, we create circumstances that force lower standards. Here in south central Wisconsin, we had one hell of a snowy winter. Over 100 inches fell, breaking the old 76 inch record. With all that and a lot of freeze-thaw cycles, the roads are a mess. Potholes are everywhere. Whole sections of roads need a complete repaving. Too bad there's no money for that since people fight every effort to raise any kind of tax. But people will still bitch about the roads. You can only trim so much waste from a budget. Sooner or later basic upkeep can't be basically up-kept.
Oh, yeah; I have one more before we get to yours. What ever happened to shutting the hell up in libraries? Apparently, we are caving on that too.
So many lowered standards, so little time. Maybe, at the young age of 48, I am more of a curmudgeon than I thought. Or maybe, I'm justified in carping about how we (that's the collective we) just don't care so much about things, don't rely as much on the common courtesy or common sense of others, or are willing to settle for less.
But it doesn't have to stay this way. I'll bet all of you have fought back on something you decided not to let slide. Let 'er rip.
One last thing, if you will indulge me. A person who I came to know and admire for never compromising his standards was my father-in-law, Bruce Wright. He was a man of integrity and I am lucky to have known him. He died this morning at age 78 with his wife and four children at his side. I tried to live up to his standards in a post over at Kerfuffle.
OK, then. You know how it works! What's your fucking problem?