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Most days the news that greets me sets my hair on fire. What?!! is my new greeting. Let me sum up the state of the world we live in with a recent example. After years of strange and tragic mishaps aboard their airplanes and the resulting loss of hundreds of lives, Boeing, once the greatest name in aviation, admitted that maybe there were some problems in the manufacturing plant and within the corporate culture…BUT that didn’t stop them from launching two astronauts into space in a questionably-functioning spaceship for an eight-day trip. Well, guess what? HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM! Since NASA and Boeing couldn’t agree on the risk assessment, Boeing could not bring the astronauts back to earth aboard its Starliner. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were left behind to float around in the International Space Station awaiting a celestial savior. No one seems troubled. Except me. With all of the political outrage about minor things like the energy efficiency of refrigerators and EVs, this aerospace situation does not seem to be ruffling a feather. The attitude seems to be a yawn, and a “so what?” or “Are they still out there?” Maybe I am too much of a pessimist. Maybe I am too out of touch with the miracles of technology. Who knows? Maybe an ingenious and determined Uber driver will reach those astronauts before the planned February rescue by Elon Musk’s Space-X. In any case, I remain INCREDULOUS. While the culture at Boeing that led to all of this does not surprise me, anyone who has held a job in the last 10 years could see what was happening to corporate culture and the workplace, but what sets the match to my hair is that even with knowing all of this…THE ASTRONAUTS WENT! When most other employees are refusing to come into the office or work overtime, these astronauts went into O-U-T-E-R S-P-A-C-E. And they did so WILLINGLY. It seems we live in a time when people jump into the deep end whistling, “Don’t worry; be happy.” (Except for the ones who are asked to come into the office that is.) I have actually heard people say, while they are JAYWALKING, “If I get hit by a car, I’ll just sue.” The assumption is that I can do what I want and someone else will pay. At the very least, I can get even. Forget the part about being maimed or dead. Of course, should the Starliner astronauts be lost in space forever, the tragedy will become the subject of such notoriety that it will earn itself some additional Congressional hearings to embarrass as many people as possible under the guise of weeding out those responsible. Will it be the left? The right? The woke? Or, maybe in this case, whoever was asleep at the launch pad? I grew up in a time when it wasn’t just the Boy Scouts who had the motto: “Be prepared.” We all did. We were taught to think things through. Do what is right. That went along with wear clean underwear just in case. Which leads me to wonder, what are those astronauts, who expected to be in space for 8 days, doing for clean underwear 180 days later? Maybe I was so preoccupied with the basic life and death issues that I missed the grand opening of the first Lunar Target. Perhaps Williams and Wilmore are just so happy to be free of post-election politics that they would rather be in outer space. Maybe I would too. Hopefully, Elon Musk will stay in Donald Trump’s good graces long enough to get the astronauts home because I heard the incoming president is conducting deportations of immigrants who get on his nerves. My words of wisdom to you are this: if someone offers you a once in a lifetime opportunity, think long and hard…because it just might be.
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 Recently, I wrote about good neighbors-- the people next door, across the street, in our own backyards. With the volume of international trade and travel, and the reach of technology, the entire world is our neighborhood, and right now, all of our neighbors are hurting. No one likes to feel helpless. Helplessness can lead to depression. In the face of helplessness and depression, anger can energize. But angry energy is not the kind of energy we need right now. It does no good to demonize our neighbors when we must rely upon them for lifesaving goods and services, for economic stability, and for knowledge and experience to defeat the coronavirus. In the days to come, as we learn more, we may find that this virus was circulating before the first case was confirmed in China. We may find there is more to the story that was not immediately apparent. Our neighbors in China, Italy, France and Spain, and all throughout the world are frightened and exhausted too. Many of the countries affected by the coronavirus lack the mighty resources of the United States. We will need to walk together with these neighbors on the long road to recovery. As I watch the televised federal and state news conferences each day, I am awed by the intelligence and ingenuity of Americans. We have gifted men and women heading up the CDC, FDA, and CMS. We have remarkable, kind people in our state and local governments. These are people hidden from our view outside of emergencies and national events. Many of these American experts are relying upon the wisdom, experience and data received from our global neighbors. We have unparalleled resources in this country. 3M can pump out 35 million N95 masks. The Navy can bring hospital ships to local ports. Hotels can be transformed into hospitals. How lucky are we in this state of emergency to have assets of such magnitude? Many of our global neighbors do not. Perhaps this crisis will cause us all to be more grateful for how much we do have, and to ask ourselves some serious questions about the hands into which we place this abundance and our lives and our livelihoods. Seeing, hearing and appreciating the experts that have surfaced during this pandemic, I ask myself if we want celebrities and “influencers” as leaders and decision makers in our social circles, workplaces, and government. Or do we want intelligent, articulate thinkers, planners and problem-solvers, people who understand science and data as well as human emotion and behavior? Do we want honest folks with a strong work ethic, or folks who drain us of time and energy because of the attention and adulation they require? You know what I am talking about here. We have all seen this growing dynamic in our social circles, work places, and government. Social media has given rise to the age of celebrity, a desire to be seen and to be “liked.” People who have the largest following sell lots of books and end up in positions of authority regardless of credentials. I have often heard people being interviewed as “experts” and wondered about their education or experience outside of Hollywood or a wildly popular YouTube video or blog. Because someone is popular, does that make them an expert on parenting, health, race relations, or national emergencies? These people “influence” others about important life matters. Should we be more discerning about the people to whom we pay attention and to the advice we follow? When this crisis is past, we want to be able to say we did our part, that we were our best selves. To do that, we need to be both good neighbors and discerning citizens—like it or not. |
AuthorLilli-ann Buffin Archives
April 2025
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