A Day in the Life of...

I learned a few things this week. I learned to be contrite. I initiated an action that caused another person to have an accident. Fortunately, she wasn't injured or her car seriously damaged. It all happened in a split second and was due to a lapse of caution on my part. Prior to entering a toll plaza, I didn't check my blind spot before changing lanes to avoid a slower vehicle in front of me. The correct course of action should have been to slow down and stay in my lane. A car behind me slammed on its brakes and spun out of control. I called 911 and went back to the scene as instructed by the 911 operator. I didn't protest as I knew I may have been responsible, and I certainly was a witness. I was relieved to find the woman was unhurt. If traffic had been heavier, she could have been killed or seriously injured. I confessed to my lapse and admitted fault to both the woman and the trooper. Afterwards, the trooper said that my honesty was rare. He said that he usually had to track most people down from the tollbooth cameras, and then they still deny it unless confronted with the evidence. Denial is conditioned into us these days it seems.

That evening I had to take an online course at work about pessimism and negativity. I tend to be a half full sort of person and outspoken to boot. The blunders in judgement my managers have made or been forced to make from more senior managers makes me wonder about corporate culture at the place I work. There was a statement in the online course that struck me as being the definition of reality that politicians and PR people use every day. While it is true that changing your perception alters your reality, it's more true to say that reality alters your perception of what is real. Marketing and sales people tend to be overly optimistic. They are in denial all the time. Things will get better, the numbers will turn around, ecetera. Scientists and engineers deal with reality every day. Things either work or they don't work due to physical laws and processes. Good scientists tend to be overly skeptical and engineers tend to be pragmatic. However, most business people deal with other people and people will let themselves be manipulated (trust?). The unscrupulous will manipulate others and lie to achieve their ends. Denial plays a strong role in business culture and being an optimist it seems. I couldn't help reflecting on what the trooper told me and what was expected of me by this course. He confronts people daily with their actions and they deny them. The course is training people to not rock the boat, but to be congenial, and if necessary, be in denial. This is how it is, make it work. But what if "it" is flawed? (1)

The collapse of Enron was a tale of denial and deception. A few became wealthy at the expense of many others. When reporters and auditors brought up their concerns, they were derided or removed from their positions. The senior executives believed their own lies. Others went along with them because they were making money from Enron even though they knew it was wrong. Iraq, the War on Drugs, and Homeland Security all seem to be the same thing. A few people of influence are making money and going along with a strategy or plan that is fatally flawed and failing, while many others are paying a terrible price. If one looks around, self deception and denial are all around us. When did confronting the truth about oneself or one's society become a rarity? Sooner or later, reality will change your perception. Just ask the Corps of Engineers and the people of New Orleans, or wait for a state trooper to knock on your door.

Labels: Denial reality perception lapse honesty