The Travesty of Water

As I mentioned earlier, I have recently been accepted into a graduate program at Seattle University, and at the end of this September classes start for me.  I had several excellent schools to choose from, and in many regards it was a difficult decision to make.  Although it sounds abstract, one of the facets of Seattle U that most attracted me was their focus on social justice, doing what is right both as an individual as well as an institution.  That may sound trite, but after a couple of decades in industry, where the focus is on the dollar either for the corporation or the individual, this higher purpose was a welcome breeze.  In far too many companies, glib words are mouthed about "integrity" and "ethics," but in actual fact most corporations, including the one I just left, have no desire to do anything other than serve their own ends.  I do understand capitalism, and I freely realize that corporations exist as legal entities whose sole purpose is to foster shareholder investment; I don't criticize that element per se nearly as much as I do the hypocrisy of these companies proclaiming that they are attempting to do the social good.  They claim to be doing right by the world, but the truth is in too many cases that is nothing more than advertising fodder.  To illustrate this, look at one example:  Water.

In the United States, we have a potable water system that is second to none.  Our entire supply is safe to drink directly from the tap, with no filtering or purification required; whether you are in Seattle, Miami, or any of the cities in between, our tap water is pure, safe, and taken for granted.  Quite literally we flush our toilets with water that many people of the world are dying for lack of.  There are people in this world dying each day of water-borne diseases, and yet we in the US take for granted the purity of our water supply, quite literally flushing our toilets and watering our lawns with it.

Unfortunately, it gets worse:  Many consumers have the hubris to say the US water supply is not good enough, and instead they demand something "even better" in the form of bottled water.  All throughout the US, in stores, fast food joints, companies and universities, small bottles of the liquid are sold.  We reconcile this by saying that for the most part we recycle those bottles.  Recycling, unfortunately, even if 100% efficient (which it is not) still misses the point:  We are mocking those in the rest of the world who are dying for lack of potable water.  It's not just that we flush our toilets with the pure water much of the world is lacking, but then we say even that water isn't good enough for our American way of life.

Many companies, including the one I just left, provide free bottled (or canned) water to their employees.  In this particular case, every floor of every building had one or more glass-faced coolers stock full of the drinks.  Employees snagged a can as they pleased, with nary a handful ever taking the time to fill a water bottle instead.  The waste, the expense, matter not at all; grab and go with complete disregard for others comes first.

Seattle U has taken on an initiative that is bold and meaningful:  They don't sell bottled water.  One cannot purchase bottled water on campus through any of the cafeterias, or vending machines or snack bars.  Instead, in addition to the typical drinking fountains, Seattle U has installed several hydration stations throughout the campus.  The hydration station is nothing fancy, not much beyond an enhanced water fountain with a high spout so that filling water bottles is easy, but the point is that the campus has taken the initiative to make this statement.  Even more meaningful, however, is something that is unheard of in the corporate world:  This change was driven by the student body, not the administration. As difficult as it is to believe after spending a couple of decades in the corporate world, it was the students who lobbied for and achieved this end rather than a bureaucratic team deciding the fate.

When we talk about change and making the world better, this ban on (or refusal to purchase) bottled water is a choice we can all make.  Every individual can elect to forego buying that plastic bottle at the fast food joint.  Every corporation can eliminate bottled water and replace it with water fountains.  There's no need to continue the mockery of those dying of thirst, and the change does not require governmental action to make this happen; your choice, or your company's choice, is all that is required.

Genesis

It's been quite a long time since I kept any sort of a journal.  Back in my high school days, when disco was king to some and despised by many, I was diligent about journaling thanks to the insistence of an English teacher, but when the school year ended so did the journal.  Since then, I have very seldom put my rambling thoughts on paper...I did resurrect the habit for a few months a few years ago, as part of a catharsis after some upsetting events, but that effort ended when my audience left.  I have a travel journal that I update after an overseas vacation, but seldom otherwise.  For all intents, my days of keeping a journal have been dead for the last few decades.

Today, I've decided it is time, again, to start the journal.

Part of the motivation to resume writing is that I am at a crossroads in my life.  I've recently given notice at my employer, and my last day of employment is two and a half weeks from now.  Unlike most employees departing a company, however, I don't have another job lined up; instead, I'll be returning to college in pursuit of a Master's degree, one which is not related to either my Bachelor's degree or my line of work for the last 25 years.  I'll fill in the details behind this...who I am, what I have done, what I want to do next...in upcoming posts, but for now that detail is less important than recording the emotional ups and downs of the last few years.  The key point at this time is simply to understand that a middle-aged man is quitting a reasonably well-paying job in a sluggish economy with no alternative employment in place, choosing instead to pursue a new degree in a new field with no guarantee of employment.  Sounds a bit insane.

I've heard it said before that love and hate are essentially the same emotion.  I'm not certain if I understand the full psychological meaning behind this, but I do have at least some insight into what it means.  To hate somebody or to love somebody requires, in both cases, a strong feeling or at a minimum caring for the person, one way or the other.  Neither love nor hate exist with indifference.

By giving notice at my job under the circumstances outlined above, it's fairly obvious that I harbored strong emotions about it.  Indeed, what I felt was anger and bitterness for working in a company whose leaders rule through degradation, fear and intimidation.  In my entire career, I have never been employed in an environment more degrading than the one I am leaving.  The hatred I felt for the place was palpable to the point it was causing medical issues for me:  high blood pressure, depression, stress, essentially all of the emotions we do not want to feel.  What was shocking to me, however, was that within a few days of giving notice, my feelings of hatred and anger subsided; the Sisyphean kings who called themselves leaders no longer had any control over me.  The injustice was, and is, still there, but I no longer felt anything towards the company.  My previous dream of a scathing exit interview, in which I tell the HR representative all of the misdeeds of the company, no longer meant anything to me.  It's not worth the rise it would cause in my blood pressure.  When I gave notice, the emotional bond was cut, and I no longer cared for the company one way or the other.

A number of colleagues who know of my plans have told me they are "bold."  While I feel honored by what I perceive as a complement, I disagree with the notion that what I am doing now is "bold."  I consider a bold job to be what I did as a very young adult:  Flying on reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in the days when they were the "Evil Empire."  What I am doing now--quitting a reasonably well paying job to go back to college and study something of interest to me--is not bold.  Truthfully, I am ashamed it has taken me this long to decide to do so.  That young nineteen-year-old who enlisted in the US Air Force knew enough to trust his gut and do what was meaningful.  With successes in my life since then, however, I have become safe and complacent, accepting a decent paycheck in exchange for my soul, in a very real sense whoring myself out for financial security.  Abandoning that isn't bold, it's simply a life change that is long overdue.

I know this is disjointed, and that actually is by design.  I don't want to paint a concrete, chronological picture at this time.  The rambling, scenic route will make more sense as it unfurls.

It feels good to be writing again.