THE ENTERPRISE--A FAMILY LOSS
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW
Some of you already know, but for those who don't, we lost another family member this past week. My brother-in-law Eddie (husband of sister Rita who died a year ago Feb.) passed away last weekend. This is the fourth such loss in 18 months. My wife's brother a year ago March and her Mother, this past January. Somebody once told me these kind of events come in cycles and we hope this cycle is over for a while now. None of these losses were too surprising given their advanced ages (Eddie was in his mid-80's) and/or general health, but that doesn't make them any easier.
IT MAKES YOU THINK--ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS
Amidst the furor over health care programs, Eddie had a very good health care program through his retirement from Caterpillar combined with Medicare--but it didn't help him this time. I'll never know, but I suspect the problem that caused his death was mis-diagnosed and mis-treated--both. Whether the correct diagnosis and treatment would have extended his life, nobody knows. He had already been through multiple bypass surgeries--twice. The point is that amidst all the noise over who pays for what, there are real issues about the quality and amount of care/specialties--especially in small towns, and smaller hospitals. As pressure comes to bear on costs, and the shortages of doctors and nurses continue to grow, health care will probably deteriorate further. No matter how elaborate our testing equipment or how sophisticated our medications/drugs, it comes down to the people interpreting the tests and delivering the care.
IRONIC ISN'T IT--IT ALWAYS COMES DOWN TO PEOPLE
I was at a couple of board meetings and thus got to spend considerable airplane and airport time thinking, after I learned of Eddie's death. During one of those board discussions, the point was made, "it always comes down to people," which resonated with what I was thinking--about everything--life, family, loved ones, work, business, our government--it all does come down to people. I have long told colleagues, clients and friends that the only real meaning in life, and the only sustainable advantages in businesses are people and partners (which are also people). While times change, people don't--at least not very much, and not at their core--and they make all the difference.
LET ME MAKE THE REST OF THIS A "TRIBUTE TO EDDIE"
You see, Eddie was a product of another era, one that is now almost gone. Eddie was Polish, and as such, lived through the era of insulting Polack jokes. But he was a "proud Polack"--and not a dumb one--and he never changed his name to get rid of the "..ske" at the end, (and neither did any of his kids.) Eddie was a factory worker--more specifically--a warehouse worker, at Caterpillar, near Peoria, IL. He worked there for over 30 years. He was a hard worker. He was a loyal worker. Every day of every year, he rose at 4:30AM to be ready for his car pool's hour long (in good weather) drive to work. Eddie grew up in an era when his was a job to be proud of. Yes, he belonged to the UAW, like all Cat hourly employees. But as he grew older and wiser, he would talk about and puzzle over the mistakes the UAW was making. Like many hourly workers, he knew far more than was attributed to him. Nevertheless, Eddie always showed up for work, on time. (I guess, except for maybe when a couple of massive blizzards interfered with the car pool.)
"I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND IT..."
He told me when Cat started giving "attendance bonuses" in the form of time off. "We're supposed to go to work," he told me. "And then, when we do what we are supposed to do, they give us time off." He asked, "Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me." Eddie accumulated so much time off due to his outstanding attendance, that he had to quit working months before his actual retirement date to use it all up. He took one of the 30 and out packages popular back a couple of decades ago, although he had more than 30 years service. He stayed in Toluca, IL (where I also grew up) and did odd jobs, while collecting his retirement, and watching his beloved Chicago Cubs on TV. He missed his job and buddies, but not the car pooling. He never changed his habit of getting up at 4:30AM. He also never understood some of the misguided practices negotiated with Cat by the UAW -- supposedly on behalf of him and his fellow workers. (Although the benefits package for retirees was a treasured one.)
WE DON'T MAKE MUCH HERE IN AMERICA ANY MORE--AND IT TAKES FEWER AND FEWER AMERICAN PEOPLE TO DO IT
Eddie was part of an America we can only remember wistfully. The American jobs in manufacturing have been steadily dropping due to a combination of "off-shoring" and "productivity improvement." As the American workers' standard of living and pay expectations priced American labor out of many job markets (globally), manufacturing work went to Taiwan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Latin America, and any place else where labor was cheap and overhead was cheaper. Guys like Eddie were no longer valued here in America--at least not as factory employees. I have often wondered whether, if he'd been younger, and fallen victim to layoffs instead of an early retirement deal, what he would have done. But I know. He's have learned a new trade and worked hard to support his family. That was the kind of man he was.
A FATHER AND A MAN
Eddie and Rita raised four great kids--3 boys and a girl--all are examples of what a pair of loving parents and a small, middle American town can produce. Watching his great-grandson weep at his funeral was hard--because I knew how close he was to Eddie. Sure, Eddie was not perfect; nobody is. He might have been a bit too loud at times, and could be stern as a disciplinarian, but whenever one of his kids--or for that matter, any of his kids friends needed someone--he was there for them. Always, any time of day or night. You can always tell the "good homes," because the kids seem to gather there voluntarily and like it. Since he "retired," Eddie would get up early and go downtown to the Senior Citizen's Center called "Operation Happiness" for coffee, breakfast, conversation and camaraderie--like can only exist in a small town. Then he'd go back to St. Ann's Church and go to Mass. His house faced on the "main drag" (highway) that goes through Toluca, and Eddie had a porch swing on a stand out front. He would wave, and call out a hello (by name) to everybody that went by. He knew all the people.
HE KNEW THAT PEOPLE WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF LIFE
And thus, he learned and remembered everybody's name. He knew what they did, and how things were going for them. He helped them whenever he could--and a lot of them helped him in return. That's the way things were done in that bygone era, when Eddie and people like him were the heart of mainstream America. Nobody worried that Eddie was a "Polack" from nearby Minonk, IL. My hometown, Toluca, IL, was a coal mining town that sat on the Santa Fe Railroad's main line. Most of the people there were Italian or Irish (my heritage), with a few Germans sprinkled in. There was even one Jewish family--the doctor (although I didn't realize what that meant, or that it made any difference until after I went to college and learned more about the world outside of small town America). Everybody in town had nicknames when I was growing up, and today, they would (mostly) be so "politically incorrect" they couldn't be used. We never knew that it mattered. Do something memorable; get a nickname, and it sticks--for life. And Eddie knew them all.
MEMORIES FLOODING BACK
Going back to small town America, and to Toluca in particular always brings memories flooding back. Many of them are wonderful. A few are painful (my father's death when I was 18, and going to that same funeral home in 1959 and now in 2009). Meeting the people--a few of my parents contemporaries are still living--and of course my own generation, of the few who are still around there and living--reminds me of the wholesome goodness of these small town people. The America we knew back there, back then, is now about gone. I guess the America we know now would be considered the result of "progress," but I'm not sure that is the right word to describe the changes.
JUST REMEMBER--THE ONLY THING THAT LASTS, AND MATTERS IN YOUR LIFE ARE THE PEOPLE
If I ever, for one instant, start to forget that, all I have to do is remember Eddie, sitting on that swing, calling out hello and smiling at everyone that went by.
Now I can only hope for one more thing for Eddie. He was a life-long Chicago Cubs fan. He loved baseball. In fact, the last thing he did the day he died, was watch the Cubs game. He was planning to use the tickets his kids bought him to ride with a busload of fans to a Cubs game last week. It would be nice if the Cubs could finally win a pennant and a World Series. It sure would make Eddie happy--and he deserves that, for how many people he made happy. God Bless you Eddie.
Best, (for knowing Eddie),
JOHN
"Government is supposed to work for the people; not vice versa."
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John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
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