January 21, 2008
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With today being Martin Luther King Day, I was off work. I didn't know what to do today, so when I rolled out of bed at 10:30 in the AM, I called Mark and asked him if he wanted to go to lunch. Ok, so it would be lunch for him and breakfast for me. The last time we did this, we went to Cracker Barrel, but I don't like the service there so we decided on another place in Romeoville called The Crispy Waffle. I have eaten there one before and although the food is kinda pricey, it is also very good. I would love to have Christmas Eve breakfast there, but its such a tiny restaurant that it could never fit our group of friends. I got there about 12:40ish and the place was packed. On my way in, I saw an older guy who was in an electric wheelchair. I got the impression that he might be a paraplegic. There was also a very young girl who was probably about 3 or 4 years old with a cane that a blind person would use along with a seeing eye dog. She also had glasses on, so maybe she was just starting to go blind. Either way, it was heartbreaking to see, even as I tried to not focus too much attention on her because I didn't want to make her or the people she was with feel different.
The last 3 companies I have worked for have given us MLK Day off as a paid holiday. More and more companies seem to be making it an official holiday, which I think is great, but I have to wonder if they are sincere in doing it. Do they really think it is a worthy holiday or are they doing it to be politically correct? The cynic in me believes that it is all just a show for political correctness, yet the dreamer in me believes that these companies are sincere in making it a paid holiday. I honestly believe my current company is sincere, we have a lot of things that we do with regards to diversity. For example, they have held several diversity classes for us. They also have a diversity calendar that employees kids can submit drawings for. We also have a diversity council that does things to promote diversity among the company. Then again, how do I know they just aren't doing this because of a previous lawsuit? Granted, I have never heard of any lawsuits involving racial issues at my company, but I still have to wonder. After all, Denny's was sued due to a racial issue some time ago and as a result, they were giving a certain amount of sales from one of their meals to the MLK foundation. Companies have a habit of doing things like that to cover up poor behavior and make themselves look good. So, who is to know what is legit and what is bullshit? It sucks that we live in a world that makes us cynical to such things. I think After all, I want to believe companies and people are just that good. Then again, the reason why we need days to honor people like King is because of hatred of some evil people. And the bottom line is usually the bottom line. Companies rarely do things out of the goodness of their heart and instead only do things that positively affect the profit margin. Then again, even if its for the wrong reason, the mere fact that its being done is good. So here I am, back at square one not knowing if its sincere or total bullshit.
Damn. Why are things so complex and never clear cut?
