Who Is In Control Now?
You and I have control until we give it to someone or something else. Then they have the power to place in our minds what we will sit there, listen to, or watch. Not too many years ago, I began to see a marked difference in the work environment concerning language and values. Things that previously were not considered acceptable were becoming more and more commonplace.
I could see where my standards and habits were sliding downward. It wasn’t just everyone else. And it is funny how we all like to compare our shortcomings and mistakes with someone who may be doing things a little worse than we are. We puff our chest out slightly, lift our chin and say, “at least we are not like them.”
I was lowering my standards and accepting what I should not. It is easier to stay quiet while offensive people blatantly make everyone around them uncomfortable. Over time, the offensive is normalized, and a new standard is in place. Years ago, working for the Sheriff’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee, I witnessed how quickly an environment can change.
worked at the Offender Re-entry Center for about a year. Inmates were locked up but released to work. Most inmates behaved because they were one step away from getting their freedom back. However, when they began transferring inmates from the nearby prison into our pod, the entire unit changed immediately.
Suddenly, their hardcore influence began to rub off on those who were doing well. Every kind of illegal activity began to run rapidly, and the standards changed. It wasn`t until those inmates were removed and sent back to prison that things calmed down. Without the bad influences, inmates would get their focus back on the right things.
Bottom Line
A little eleven leavens the whole lump.