The Corporate World

"I look at life from both sides now." - Joni Mitchell. It's a wonder we get anything done, but really this is a magical existence, this being human. Sure, it can be the depths of hell, but living on this earth on the top of the food chain has it's advantages. One can argue that all that spare time not having to worry about where the next meal is coming from can create more trouble than it's worth. All that spare time to worry, or get depressed, or drink 5 too many beers can, as they say be 'the devil's handiwork'. It's all a metaphor, and one that passes on from generation to generation. An important one involves hard work.
The harder you work, the more money you make, the more successful you are. Not in China. What if your wife leaves you because you're never home? I think any of us who have found 'success', in whatever form it may exist in the mind of the beholder, have had to make some compromises. In the flurry of activity that our society would deem an acceptable level of hard work, things get missed, glossed over, ignored. Things that one would never do seem to occur on a regular basis. Success feels good. It's not worth the sacrifice to do what's right, to do what's important. A human must succeed.
I overheard a conversation yesterday between a contractor, and another gent. It seems they had had a relationship of sorts from the past, and I can only guess that the contractor had given this person a job to help them out before. Using my own pure judgement, his appearance would deem him in the category of a 'homeless person'. He spoke eloquently, and calmly as he gave the contractor a low-down on what had transpired between him and the job boss at another construction site. According to him, the boss grabbed him by the ring of his safety harness and pulled him around. Long story short, this person was in talks with some sort of governmental, or human rights advocate about this incident. In fact, he said he had written a 144 page document, that, if charged out for overtime, and hourly wage, would have earned him over $44,000. This is what he will be claiming. I know I'm making him wrong for this, but my logic tells me it's not quite that simple. My decision will have no impact on the situation at all.
I just wonder, what could this obviously intelligent, and hardworking individual do for the world if he put that time, and energy into Big Brothers, or a Youth Emergency Shelter? He said he doesn't care about the money, he just wants everyone to know that he's right, and the other guy was wrong. Isn't that why we have hundreds of lawyers in the phone book? Humans......
I do not condone any of the actions on the bossman. He definitely stepped in it. What could be available for him if he would have just treated this other guy in a respectable manner? He probably learned that that was ok from his own boss. It is impossible for any of us mere mortals to see the ripple effect of our actions, even if someone else ends up hearing a conversation. It's so silly, so trite. Our world is dying, and all we are concerned with is "I'm right, you're wrong." When it's all over, we'll all be saying "it was his fault, not mine".