Adding one more thought:
Maybe he was troubled by the trade off I was suggesting. Saving energy as a social goal vs. his loss of personal unencumbered time.
Please remember that CHrist got up on the cross, but after the third day, he got rescued.
Gandhi and Socrates may have got assassinated/executed in their old age, but they won what George Steiner described as the wager of [secular] immortality which he argued has driven much if not all cultural producion in THe West since Pindar.
Were you really asking this man to "swallow it"? Were you really arguing that this guy should sacrifice for his tormentors? As John did not say to Bobby or maybe he did: "You know, Bobby, America has done so much for us that we really should do something for America." Bobby: "Right, John: Let's ask not what more our country can do for us, but whether we can do a little for our country in our positions as President and Attorney General." John: "Right, Bobby, sounds like a win-win proposition to me." Bobby: "Let's do it!" Lyndon (shouting from the john): "Did I hear the word patronage?"
\brad mccormick
arthur
-----Original Message-----
From: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 9:01 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [Futurework] Fuel Efficiency Trumps Fuel Cells :: The
example of a wise person
The event was many years ago and I recall it with clarity. I was younger and so proud of this new social indicator. This man was obviously interested in environmental matters. He seemed so troubled by the concept that I was moved to "hear him" in an empathic way. As I recall the incident he seemed scared and almost teary of losing this free, unencumbered space in an otherwise hectic and harried life.
arthur
-----Original Message----- From: Brad McCormick, Ed.D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 7:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Cordell, Arthur: ECOM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Fuel Efficiency Trumps Fuel Cells :: The example of a wise person
Arthur Cordell wrote:
I was proud of the idea until after the talk a man came up to me and said,
"Dr. Cordell do you know that the only time in my life that I have to myself
is when I am commuting. At work the boss is after me. At home my wife is
after me. And you want to reduce this time of freedom for me?"
Needless to say that was the last time I ever used that example.
The more I think about it, the more I am impressed by this person's response to you.
Unlike me, he did not make himself into his own worst enemy by snapping back at you and thereby putting you on the defensive against him.
Instead, he appealed to what he hoped was the spark of humanity (or even just "live and let live" decency) in you, to try to encourage you to appreciate that he was in a predicament, and to enquire why you would want to make things worse for him when doing so would not even be of any benefit to you?
This man's response to you was masterful. I almost wonder how a person in such possession of hismelf could, like me, get into such a predicament. But life is not just. "Es gibt", as Heidegger said.
Your perosn, unlike me, succeeded in getting is message across -- as you yourself testify.
I wish I would do as well. I keep trying....
\brad mccormick
Why can't the poor man get a nice hobby (where neither his boss nor his wife are after him) instead of long commutes ? Commuting is not really time you have for yourself, because you have to pay attention to traffic etc. all the time. (And in public transport the level of distractions is also too high to make real use of that time.)
I really feel for this guy, and I wish him as "nurturing" commutes as possible.
We don't always get to choose our conditions in life, so sometimes we have to fnd ways to make do. This man has found a way to survive and even to get some pleasure out of life.
If I was in his shoes, I'd hope I could afford a BMW 318ti (or better).
This man is enlightened.
\brad mcvcormick
I would have given him this advice and continued to use commuting time as a social indicator.
Chris
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