National media outlets have had a field day recently, running a story about Delta Airlines charging a group of US Soldiers returning from Afghanistan hundreds of dollars in excess baggage fees. Now in the midst of a PR nightmare, airlines all across the nation are scrambling to amend their policies to extend additional “free checked bags” to military personnel.
This is neither the first, nor the most egregious common sense violation I’ve seen purported by an airline. While I was working at the Las Vegas airport, a knife-wielding man ran through security and took a young boy hostage. After several terrifying minutes, he moved the knife from the boy’s throat for a split-second, allowing officers to open fire. Later that night, after hours of police questions, and medical exams, my supervisor found the boy and his family huddled together on an airport bench. “What are you guys still doing here?” he queried. “Well, obviously we missed our flight” replied the Dad, “but (major US airline) told us that since we didn’t miss the flight due to weather or traffic, they’re not allowed to put us on the next flight.”
Now, I’m not mad that Delta’s policy called for charging excess-baggage fees. I’m upset at the employees who ignored common sense, and enforced that procedure. We had the same policy at our airline. But when we saw a soldier in uniform, we had the decency to ignore it. This isn’t a policy problem. It’s a people problem. Because there can’t be a written policy for every possible scenario (like a family being taken hostage), human beings need to step up and use common sense. Common decency.
I’m so sick of hearing “He’s just doing his job.” Or “That’s our policy.” These are unacceptable excuses for being an idiot- for standing behind a procedure that you yourself feel is ridiculous. I encourage everyone out there to do the right thing. The reasonable thing. The HUMAN thing. Whatever that may be. Just because there’s a policy in place, is no excuse to check your soul at the door.
I once had a boss, who after answering a litany of “what if” questions from new trainees, finally said simply “Just do the right thing, and we’ll stand behind you.”
The moral weakness of those who practice blind obedience to policy has led to some of civilization’s greatest injustices. Have you ever wondered how you would’ve acted had you lived in Nazi Germany? Or the United States during slavery? I submit that individuals who hide their own integrity and humanity behind a shield of “policy” in modern times, would’ve done the same thing in any other era. And like the proverbial boiled frog, they would’ve continued to do so step by step, until there was nothing left behind the shield. Like the sapling hidden under the shade of the mighty oak, humanity needs sunlight to survive. If you allow your humanity to be hidden under the shade of procedure for too long, eventually it will die. Fascism, Nazism, Genocide, Slavery, Segregation, have all been at one point or another, policy. Procedure. The Law. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
The Bible teaches that Jesus was constantly attacked by those who would put procedure ahead of people. And at every turn, Jesus’ priority was the individual. The Spirit of the Law, taking precedence over the letter.
So, are you a people person? Or a policy person?
Posts
7 comments:
I hate the excuse that "if we make an exception for you then we have to make an exception for everyone." That's a bunch of bull in my book. There really are unique circumstances and exceptions to every policy. Why treat everyone the same when we're not all the same? You're right, it's the lack of common sense that is the problem.
I'd like to think I'm a people person. I totally agree with what Heather said! I agree that there are always going to be exceptions to the rule and we should use our common sense to take those into account. My only problem is with people who constantly think that they ARE the exception.
ps. I really like that MLK quote.
Well said!
Well, as Jack Sparrow says about the Pirate Code, "it's more like a guideline." Or, I like the interview with the 3 baseball umpires asked to define a strike. Rookie umpire: "It's a pitch over the plate and between the letters and the knees." Experienced umpire: "That's correct as long as the batter has a normal stance." Veteran umpire: "It's a strike when I say it's a strike!" Airlines and all businesses would do better to go back to putting the customer first; it's about doing the right thing. The problem is having to deal with the store clerk or airline agent who gets paid the same whether she helps you or not. I agree with the comment about too many people who think they are the exception, they are not, but good sense would put a hostage on the next flight for free. And let's forget about having the company lawyers amend the passenger manual for cases of hostage taking. Make the passenger glad he chose your airline and get him and his friends to want to pay for a ticket on a future trip.
Ryan, I agree that we should resist and disobey grossly unjust policies and laws. I am concerned with a possible implication of your view, which is that public officials, occupying a position of trust and power, will take it upon themselves to "do the right thing" even the law tells them to do something else. This has happened in U.S. history, for example, when the Supreme Court tried to "do the right thing" by imposing a right to abortion on all 50 states. We see the same thing happening in the debate over gay marriage - the judges who say that there is a right to gay marriage say they are following the "spirit" (or "penumbras") of the Constitution by working out the implications of the Equal Protection clause. To me, these are examples of usurpations of the people's right to choose their own laws. In other words, I don't want judges to do what they think the right thing is; I want them to follow the law. One of the most important things that law does is settle moral disputes - we disagree profoundly about moral issues, and it's important that our public officers have direction about how to handle these hard issues. If we just told them, "use your best judgment," that would be the rule of men rather than the rule of law.
Having said this, I will grant, as I said above, that we should often refuse to submit to unjust laws (for a recent statement on this, see the "Manhattan Declaration"). And if the laws requires a public official to do something that he or she considers to be grossly immoral, that person should probably get out of the government. And I agree that we all have a responsibility for our own actions, regardless of what the law tells us to do.
Ryan, you're exactly right. The world is full of spineless, robotic, idiot employees following procedures to the letter while throwing common sense and decency to the wind. They protect their jobs at all costs (selfishness).
Post a Comment