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Don’t Be Sorry. Be Better.
Profit and compassion don’t have to be incongruous objectives. Too many in power have the philosophy of ask for forgiveness instead of permission.
I am only one insignificant person. I may have a positive influence on one or two people every now and again but overall, I am not setting the world on fire with my existence.
I’m not alone in the category of average human being. There are a lot of us in this bulbous inner portion of the bell curve.
The exceptional people wouldn’t be considered exceptional if it weren’t for us average Joes. We need each other to maintain balance. We are the foundation that supports the pedestal of power.
My questions then are these.
To what degree are the powerful, exceptional humans expected to consider the lives of the average masses when carrying out their feats of prowess?
Yes, the masses tend to benefit from the accomplishments of the extraordinary. Without the worker bees keeping the hive humming, however, would the more powerful have the ability to soar?
Don’t both sides of the equation have a responsibility to look out for each other?
Though these philosophical questions could be a commentary on the government shut down and the border wall debate, national politics are not the origin of my query.
The source of my dilemma is much more mundane, like me. Remember, I am an average human being.
An Inconsequential Person’s Story
In 2011 my husband and I purchased a condo in the heart of the city. The transition from single family home in the suburbs to a multifamily urban dwelling involved narrowing our proximity to neighbors.
We had both spent time in multifamily dwellings in our younger days. Apartment complexes filled with twenty somethings. Renters with little concern for the property or people in their shared community.
Those days were a valuable experience that neither of us wished to repeat in our forties. We were gambling that an owner-occupied condominium building inhabited by older, more mature adults past the twenty…