The Good with the Bad

I have this daily to-do list that I maintain.  It helps me to keep track of how often I do things.  This blog is on the list.  I have several blogs.  On my list, this one is titled "Rant Blog."  The title comes from the fact that I often use this blog to vent.

Today, I am going to try something different.  I am going to complain, and then say something nice about what I just complained about.  I want to (1) see if I can do that and (2) see if saying something nice actually changes my perspective.

Here we go...

The Bad: British Petroleum screwed up big-time with this oil spill.  They took short cuts in anticipation of profits.  They lied about the scope of the incident and they seem to be handling this with the same dexterity of a baby bear cub fondling his new-found penis while wearing boxing gloves.  (I heard that somewhere years ago and have been looking for a chance to use it ever since.)

The Good: BP has 96,200 employees.  My guess is that a handful are responsible for this incident.  All of the others are hard working people trying to do a good job while providing for their families. 

The Bad: Is it just me or had anyone else noticed that government jobs are often filled by people that cannot succeed in the private sector.  I look at people like the director of Homeland Security and think, "Really?  Is she the best we can do?"  Government agencies tend to be bloated, highly bureaucratic, slow to change and lack accountability.  I have been dealing a lot with immigration lately.  They do not use fax machines, telephones or email.  The only way to communicate with them is via snail mail.
The Good:  There are a lot of highly skilled people that occasionally rise to the top.  When they do, they really make a difference.  I realize that a lot of this has to do with pay.  Why would a super talented person work for the government when he/she can make millions in the private sector? 

The Bad: Our school systems are so poorly managed that they can't find a way to reach out and grab the lifeline that technology is dangling in front of them.  Replace text books with electronic readers and save a few billion the first year.
The Good:  We have teachers that spend 80 hours a week, 10 months out of the year doing the best with what they are given.  In California, the student to teacher ratio is so poor that if an English teacher assigns everyone a paragraph to write, she has 250 paragraphs to grade over the weekend.  If you see a teacher or a soldier - be sure to tell them "thanks."


The Bad: It sure has been raining a lot here in northern California.
The Good: When the sun comes out, its beautiful.

So, for every Ying there is a Yang.  Without the darkness, would we ever appreciate the light?  The best feeling in the world is when an ice cream headache goes away.  That is when I remember to appreciate not having a headache.

j