May I include you in a chat I overheard at a staff lunch table in a lovely Takapuna cafe.
After miscellaneous exchanges between the boss and the waiting staff, a girl pops up to go.
Girl: Okay, gotta go!
Boss: Have fun.
Girl: Thank you.
The subject of my reading and my thoughts being philosophical, I immediately jumped to the question of value.
What was his highest expressed value or priority? Fun?
She seemed to affirm that value by her gratitude at his parting comment.
Safety was not foremost or the comment would have been, "Be careful!"
Morality wasn't highest or he would have said, "Be good!"
Productivity didn't get a look in or he would have said, "Hurry back."
What might have been her responses to each of those other values?
"Okay."
"Awww."
"Alright."
I don't really know, but she might not have thanked him for those comments. Fun was encouraged and gratefully accepted as a value shared or understood between them.
I read recently that America is the most entertained and the least informed country in the world. I don't know who espoused that opinion or if there's much validity to it. On what level does one make such a judgement?
I do know that as an American living overseas, I've met Japanese students who know far more about what is called Pop Culture than I do. Often going under the alternate heading of Entertainment News, it more resembles gossip on a global scale.
But if fun is valued, then those who are identified with fun, be it on stage or screen, are also valued, and elevated. Their lives are on display, whether they always like that part of the equation or not.
After miscellaneous exchanges between the boss and the waiting staff, a girl pops up to go.
Girl: Okay, gotta go!
Boss: Have fun.
Girl: Thank you.
The subject of my reading and my thoughts being philosophical, I immediately jumped to the question of value.
What was his highest expressed value or priority? Fun?
She seemed to affirm that value by her gratitude at his parting comment.
Safety was not foremost or the comment would have been, "Be careful!"
Morality wasn't highest or he would have said, "Be good!"
Productivity didn't get a look in or he would have said, "Hurry back."
What might have been her responses to each of those other values?
"Okay."
"Awww."
"Alright."
I don't really know, but she might not have thanked him for those comments. Fun was encouraged and gratefully accepted as a value shared or understood between them.
I read recently that America is the most entertained and the least informed country in the world. I don't know who espoused that opinion or if there's much validity to it. On what level does one make such a judgement?
I do know that as an American living overseas, I've met Japanese students who know far more about what is called Pop Culture than I do. Often going under the alternate heading of Entertainment News, it more resembles gossip on a global scale.
But if fun is valued, then those who are identified with fun, be it on stage or screen, are also valued, and elevated. Their lives are on display, whether they always like that part of the equation or not.
One actress I respect from a distance recently said, "If you invite People magazine to your wedding, expect them to show up for the divorce too." Fortunately she has kept her personal life private as her marriage seems to be in major trouble right now. May she be given some respect.
Anyway, in light of recent blog posts as to the monetary value we put on things, and other questions of priority, even time management, who determines values in your life? Is it you, do you think, or the media, the government, your peers or major brands?
Anyway, in light of recent blog posts as to the monetary value we put on things, and other questions of priority, even time management, who determines values in your life? Is it you, do you think, or the media, the government, your peers or major brands?
Do you buy Tupperware, Born, Coleman, Apple, Travel Pro, Leatherman, Nikon, Merrill, Chico's, and Case Logic because they are quality products or because they are popular?
Notice the brands I didn't include because, in my ignorance, I don't even know they exist?
What do we wish for people as they leave us, as we pray for them, as we sign off in our correspondence?
Grace be with you.
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