Eeny, Meeny, forget Miny or Moe

The "nonsense" words in this week's blog's title have a history dating back to the mid 18oo's. The phrase was and is used by children to determine who should be"it" or who should go first in a game. When faced with making a decision among a number of choices, the phrase is sometimes used to arrive at the one choice that will selected. Notice that this method of arriving at a decision is most often used by children, not adults. The reason adults do not rely on this method is because they supposedly are able to utilize their ability to reason.

Well, you sure could have fooled me!! There have been countless times witnessed by this writer when a co-worker, friend, neighbor, or family member seemed to have great difficulty when, faced with a situation that required in depth thought processing, were not able to arrive at a reasonable decision. Of course, depending on the circumstances, one may simply not have an adequate knowledge base on which to draw thereby hampering their scope of reasoning abilities.

Another reason that some folks seem unable to arrive at a reasonable answer to a given situation is that they are prone to demonstrate the "knee jerk" syndrome or the "shoot from the hip" response. In other words, they respond to some stimulus with little or no forethought. Very often, folks with this type of response discover that their decision does not result in a positive outcome. There have been a number of phrases that speak to this phenomenon e.g.: "Put mind in gear before putting mouth in motion; Think before you act".

There are some within our society who are expected to react in a "split second" to a situation but at the same time, act with accuracy and appropriately. They are those folks who function within the world of emergency medicine. Whether they work outside a medical facility or within, they must have a large body of knowledge regarding the human body and its functions in order to respond in a manner that will have positive results for whomever and in whatever condition. There is no room for error.

So then, how do we explain the actions, or lack thereof, of our politicians who must certainly be aware of our rather dismal situation but yet seem bent on not responding in an appropriate manner to our plight? Do they consciously or unconsciously employ the "Knee jerk" or "Shoot from the hip" response? Or do they simply lack a sufficient body of knowledge in order to arrive at a solution to the problem? It may even be supposed that they resort to using the "Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Moe" technique to solve what to them, seems an unfathomable situation!!

But wait a minute!! They are not children. They are adults. At least, they have existed within our society for the required number of years to qualify for the position they hold. But just what other qualifications are they expected to posses in order to function appropriately on our behalf? If any of the readers of this blog know of a specific list of qualifications by which an applicant for a position within the political arena must demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge/understanding, please, please let this writer know where it may be found.

It is generally known that for any position within any organization that provides a product or service, an applicant for any position within that organization must demonstrate a measurable level of understanding of the responsibilities for that position in order to be hired. If he or she fails to demonstrate the expected level of skills, they are simply culled from the list of applicants. If they manage to demonstrate the expected level of skills, they are usually put "on probation" for some period in order to convince the employer they are able to function at an acceptable or superior level within that position. If they fail to "measure up" to expectations, they may be given a "warning" and their probationary period extended. If, after a second
review of their abilities/achievements they are again found to be wanting, they are then sacked.

Unfortunately, within the world of politics however the steps of: "hiring", probationary period; being fully accepted; or being sacked are lacking or at least different than in the "real world" of employment. We may think that we "hire" the political applicant but other than making a mark on a voting form or pulling a lever, do we have any input into the "hiring" process? After being "hired", are we able to look in on our new "employee" to determine if they "measure up" to our expectations? It seems that the only way we are able to obtain even a glimpse of the "employee" is when some article appears in a newspaper that mentions his/her name. Other than that, we remain oblivious to their daily routine. Do they show up on time for work each day? Do they show up at all each day? Are they required to "report" to anyone on some schedule? Does anyone at their location check to see if they are accomplishing anything?

For now, the answers to the above questions will be unanswered. This writer will attempt to ferret out some details on the routine(s) of a newly "hired" political employee and provide some insight so as to allay or alert the reader(s) of the effort. Until then,

Semper Fidelis

Nurse John