Reaction

Knee jerk reactions to things suck. I work in a place where if something negative happens there is a new policy within the week. And while I understand trying to prevent similar negative things from happening again, it seems to me that some problems are caused by a person just not being wise or following the rules. In the last year there have been several new policies and procedures that are obviously meant to make things better but in reality these new rules make work more difficult. I am not sure you can have policies the help people with wisdom or common sense. Have you noticed that "common sense" seems to be less common now?

I read this week the commissioner of the National Football League is looking into banning the age-old 3 point stance used by linemen. He argues this will cut down on the concussions that take place each season in the NFL. Concussions are obviously dangerous and in football, men hit each other with all their might and power. But don't you think the issue could be less about the stance and more about the 6'5", 350lb linemen that run a 4.8 / 40? I don't know the mathematical equation for figuring out pounds per square inch, but I have to believe that if the players were a bit smaller the issue of concussions would be a little less.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign against childhood obesity. The focus of the first lady is going to be on more physical activity, healthier food in schools and more accurate food labeling. The President has created a task force to research this issue and report back to him in 90 days. There was an article on Yahoo.com about childhood obesity and said there are three factors that keep a four year-old child from being obese. First, family dinners, which means being together for the meal. Second, more sleep at night. And finally, less television. Many of these ideas coming from the President on down to Yahoo! seem like the blatantly obvious. Yet our country is going to throw how many millions of dollars at this "issue." There is no doubt obesity will continue to be a health and financial strain on this country if it is not addressed. Is the best thing for our society's long term health really another task force, committee or initiative that is nothing more than lip service. Those don't bring about true change. Since many schools have made P.E. voluntary, what about mandating physical education programs at all public schools that will get kids moving for 1 hour a day? Just a thought.....

In my opinion, knee jerk reactions are simply the folks in charge being short-sighted in their attempts to have a solution quickly. Sometimes, the problem is in a few "bad apples" that make poor decisions. Sometimes there is a glaring deficiency that needs to be addressed. The challenge comes when you try to rebuild the whole machine when the only problem is a squeaky wheel. Staying with the machine analogy, if you need to replace the engine don't just refill the windshield washer fluid and expect things to work properly.

May you see that some solutions to problems are neither quick nor easy and sometimes it requires thinking long-term. May you have the wisdom and common sense to make the decisions that face you each and everyday.