say it ain’t so, Joe….

Chicken Little was right.  The sky is falling. 

Amid the sex scandal surrounding the Penn State football program, and the apparent cover up by university officials, Joe Paterno finds himself in the middle of something that none of us could have imagined.

That one of his coaches, Jerry Sandusky,  was caught in the middle of a sex act with a young boy in the showers of the Penn State football complex, and the reporting of this act up the managerial ladder, including Paterno, exemplifies the hand washing of everyone involved.

Call the police?  That would be embarrassing.

The stench is palpable.  Much like the Catholic Church cover up, officials at Penn State are lawyering up.  They’re  circling the wagons.  They’re setting up protective layers to cocoon what was once a beacon of integrity.

Too bad the kids couldn’t lawyer up while they were being raped.  Too bad the kids couldn’t speak for fear of reprisals.  Too bad, these kids are scarred for life.

I’m not agruing that Paterno was personally involved, but that he turned his head, that he didn’t do enough, that he allowed this act to continue going forward without going to the authorities when it became apparent his superiors didn’t.

Paterno?  Really, Joe Paterno?  He’s the guy who stood for something, who meant what he said, a man you could trust.  He was different. 

Things seem to be upside down.  It’s as if Mount Rushmore turned out to be Hitler, bin Laden, Stalin, and Pol Pot.  What’s good is bad.   Up is down.  In is out.  Black is white. 

second fiddle….

Smokin’ Joe is dead.  A son of South Carolina, Joe Frazier made the bright lights and the big city in Philadelphia his home for the past four plus decades as a fighter and ex-fighter.

Frazier was a great fighter, feared by all.

Forever linked with Mohammed Ali, Frazier played the unwitting boob to Ali’s quick tongue and even quicker hands.  Ali mocked him, berated him, and humiliated him, and eventually, diminished him as a man. 

Frazier’s only sin was beating Ali in 1970 during Ali’s comeback.  The country was divided and Frazier represented the “dumb” establishment, while the cocky, ambitious Ali took up the case of the young, progressive part of society.

To be caught up in that mess was unfair to Frazier.  He was a decent man who was unprepared for what lay in front of him.  Eventually, Frazier found solace in the bottle, and eventually, liver cancer beat him.

Frazier never found the glory of Ali, never walked the steps of Atlanta to light the Olympic flame, never met with leaders of other countries.  And yet, he will always be measured against Ali. 

What a shame.

a time for leadership…..

Each time I listen to Bill Clinton speak, the more I believe we have amateurs running our country.  It feels like the kids from “Our Gang” took over and Spanky’s in charge.

I know Clinton’s been making a fortune making speeches and writing books.  I saw him speak earlier this year.  It was rambling, thoughtful, insightful, and above my head.  But, it was clear he thinks about everything.  His appetite for knowledge is insatiable. 

Change the Constitution and get this guy back in the driver’s seat.  We are a nation in crisis and we need the best.  Today, Clinton is the best.

a $400 cup of soup, continued…..

You’ll remember me paying $400 for a blender for myself.  And, I actually took one home for my son, who likes to try things in the kitchen. 

That purchase made me think about what I do, the products we make, and the value they bring. 

When we design a sofa, is it about being something that serves it’s owners in a better way?  Can it make our customers, our clients, feel better about their lives?  Can it improve their circumstances like the blender did for me?  Will it help them sleep better?  Will they feel better?  Will they be better?

I paid $400 for a blender.  Can that translate to other products.  Would people be willing to pay $3000 for a mattress?  If you can demonstrate they are buying better sleep, yes!  Just ask the folks at Tempurpedic.

Will I be more comfortable if I buy this recliner?  Yes!  Just ask the folks at La-Z-Boy, who’ve been selling comfort for decades. 

In fact, consumers are willing to pay when given a good reason.  Offering something for 50% off, buy one, get one free, no interest for a million years, is not an argument that leads to a better purchase.  It leads to the bottom.

The next time we offer a click clack sofa for $199, we need to ask ourselves if we’ve done the best we can for the consumer.  When we sell someone a mattress for $199, have we really helped that consumer to a better life? 

We need to do better.  We need not to commoditize everything, but make products that make a difference.  By making price the prevailing reason for purchase is not marketing or selling, but the laziest approach to retail there is.

So, like that blender, we need to remember what it is we’re really selling.  It’s not the blender.  It’s the soup.  And, it’s not really the soup; it’s about better eating.  And, it’s not really about better eating; it’s about quality of life.

And, if you have a product that can sell that, you’ve got something.  It made me pay $400 for a blender. 

a $400 cup of soup…..

I’ve always been a picky eater.  I guess you could say I’m a carnivore’s carnivore.  Meat, meat, meat.  Potatoes, I love potatoes.  Bake ‘em, fry ‘em, mash ‘em, just bring ‘em.  And, I like soups, just about any soup.

But, vegetables have always been difficult for me.  If they’re on the plate, I eat them.  But, they’re not the first thing for me.  If I could hide them under the gravy, I would. 

In any case, I know it’s important to eat a balanced diet.  And now, with me getting into my middle fifties, I know I need to change.  But, how?

A couple of weeks ago, I was going through a Costco, when I came across a demonstration of some high powered blender.  I’m a sucker for any live presentation.  Sort of like how a magician wants to watch another magician do his thing, I like to watch how other products are sold.

So, there I was, in a semi-circle around this guy who’s cutting up some tomatoes, onions, peppers, a little cheese, cilantro, and maybe a few other things.  He adds a little seasoning, water, and a tiny bit of vinegar to this solution in this blender.  “Touch the jar”, he tells me.  I comply.  It’s cold.  “Touch this button”, he says, and I do just that.

In an instant, this machine, with the ferocity of a chain saw, starts emulsifying all of those things, most of which I don’t like to eat by themselves, into something that’s steamy hot.  He adds a few tortilla chips, touches a button for a second and voila.

“Hold your cup out”, he says.  I do.  “This is the best tortilla soup you’ll ever eat”.  He was right. 

Now, blenders are all over the place for under $50, some even under $20.  But, I’ve never run into a blender than did THAT.  I wanted one.  No, I needed one.  And, my son, he’d use something like that as well. 

So, as I left that Costco with two blenders at $400 each, I started wondering if I’d made a wise choice.  Of course I did. 

This purchase wasn’t about the blender, or really the soup, but about my ability to make something that is good for me, that can give me better health, that can change the way I eat, and do it in a way I can do.   In selling me the blender, he sold me the soup, and better health, and eventually, a better life.

to be continued….

God and government…..

Occasionally, I see the God and the Pledge of Allegiance being used as a political football.  Should “under God” be in the Pledge of Allegiance as the “official” pledge of our flag and country?

I’m always suspicious of politicians who use God as their “go to” guy.  In fact, many who have diabolical ideals use God as their secret weapon.  A foundation of the Ku Klux Klan is white supremacy as a God given right.  For some reason, I don’t know that their god is my God.

Those people who crashed planes into the World Trade Center used their god as their reason for killing the infidels in those buildings. 

It makes me nervous when our country endorses God, like he’s some sort of commodity, a tool to be used to make us feel better, something to make us superior to others, something to make us feel righteous.   How does that make us different than other theocracies? 

I think we get confused as a country when these issues arise.  Should God be in our schools?  Should God be in our courts?  Should God be on our currency?  It seems, somehow, if we stamp it on a building or on a piece of paper, it makes it so.

For me, God is in my heart, in my everyday life, in nature, in my relationships.  My government has nothing to do with that, and should have nothing to do with it. 

Do I believe in God?  Absolutely!  But, I don’t want my government telling me anything about God and who I should worship, or even if I should worship.  That is my choice. 

it’s about the cash…..

I heard a statistic recently that caused me to pause.  Over the past few years, 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico in drug wars.   Another number, $40 billion a year, the amount of drug trafficked into the United States, which turned into a $150 billion retail trade, is the real reason for the violence.

Violence, and much of all crime is related to mind altering substances.  In many low income areas, the most successful business person is not the insurance agent, or retailer, or manufacturer, but the drug distributor.

Drugs are too available not because they are legal, but because they are illegal.  They require an underground distribution network with a pusher, somebody who is in contact with you, enticing  you with a free hit of whatever it is they are selling.  They aren’t regulated or taxed, but act as free agents interloping between darkness and light.

It’s time we looked at drugs as something other than narcotics.  We need to look at them as an economic business model.  We need to find out how to make that model unattractive.  We need to suck the cash out of the drug business.

We have the perfect historical model.  When we made booze illegal, we invented an entire illegal industry that claimed lives and created unchecked crime.  When Prohibition was lifted, those criminals moved to something else, including drugs.

For those who want to make the puritanical argument that drugs are bad, you are correct.  But, so are polyunsaturated fat, salt, and cigarettes. 

Make drugs legal and tax them so we can pay for the rehabilitation of those who use them.  Put the light of day on the problem to help those who need help to get the care they require without fear of retribution or incarceration.

There are too many casualties for us to ignore.  It’s time.