Polish

My father died 15 years ago, in June of 1995. He was a pretty ordinary guy – never did anything that put him in the papers or on TV. He worked at the same job for the same organization for more than 44 years. He loved to bowl. He was a World War II Vet – a decorated one, though he never talked about it and we didn’t even know until a few years before he died. He was a great dad and I still miss him.

He was born in Hamtramck MI. He spoke only Polish until he was 6 years old and went to school. I grew up with Polish foods that he cooked, Polish music, and the odd Polish word and phrase. Even though my Mom is not of Polish heritage we were, at least a little, a Polish home.

My youngest brother and I have been the ones to keep up the few traditions – kielbasa for Christmas breakfast, cucumber salads with vinegar and sugar in the summer time, kapusta – sauerkraut – as a side dish. I like the music and the dances and own a Polish costume, thought I haven’t worn it in years. My father carried around a photo of me in that costume for quite a while. He loved the music, too.

This past weekend, while I was visiting Detroit, my mother and I went to the annual Polish Festival put on by the Polish Century Club. It’s in a new building in the suburbs – I guess the old one on Outer Drive is gone.

There was a kind of street fair; some booths were related to things Polish, and some weren’t. There was also a big tent with live music. We went there first, and listened. We were lucky to be able to see a dance performance of young people in authentic costumes. I was entranced! (Though I felt sorry for them; it was so hot for all that wool.)

Mom got a little teary and I joined her; we were both thinking of Dad. Mom said “I remember how his face lit up whenever he heard a polka”. My father was a good dancer and I treasure the memories of the few opportunities I had to dance with him.

We shared a “Polish plate” which gave us a taste of many of the dishes we used to eat all the time – pierogi, “city chicken”, kapusta, galobki, mashed potatoes (maybe they aren’t exclusively Polish but they were standard at our house and my father was great at making them). We agreed that the galobki wasn’t as good as Dad’s.

It was an unexpected trip down memory lane – sad but sweet – and a reminder of my roots. It’s a rare day that I don’t think of my father, but this was a special one.

My garden, for the moment.

I live in a “temporary” apartment.   I had a lovely house in MD and will have another (soon, I hope) in IL.  In the meantime, a lot of my stuff is in storage.  I’ve learned some things about “stuff” in the time I’ve had to live in limbo.  The most important thing is, I can actually live without quite a bit of my stuff.  When I get it all back, it’ll be sort of like Christmas; many things will feel new again – “Hey, I forgot I owned one of these!”. 

There are a few exceptions, a few things I miss keenly and can’t wait to have back in my immediate position again.  My piano is first on that list.  A number of treasured books – I had to make choices, but had I known I’d be in this apartment for this long there are a few more I’d have brought with me.  And one thing that isn’t in storage but I will start over – a yard full of garden beds.  I grow flowers and vegetables; I have ever since I had my own little spot in my grandmother’s garden all those years ago.  I miss the excitement of planning, the problem solving (“Hmmm, there’s less sun here than I thought there would be” or “What kind of bugs are THOSE?”), the gentle competition with critters (all in good fun except the year the groundhog leveled my vegetable garden), the sheer pleasure of walking the yard each morning to see what’s happening, what’s changed, what’s blooming.  I love to watch the colors as they develop (or don’t) the way I imagined.  I love eating from the garden in summer; especially  the incomparable taste of cherry tomatoes still warm from the sun.  I enjoy most gardening chores, even weeding.  And I feel a garden keeps me in touch with the weather and the seasons.  I watch the days lengthen and shorten with much more interest when it affects my small harvests.  I am far less inclined to be annoyed by periodic bouts of rain.  I am, in short, in better sync with my world when the garden is part of my life. 

For now, this little deck off the back of my apartment is all the garden I have.  One tomato, one hot pepper, some herbs, and the flowers and houseplants.  They don’t take much work beyond watering – except that I learned the hard way I must pollinate my own veggies; the bees don’t find this place.  I’ll only get a few peppers and a handful or two of tomatoes even with that.  Single plants find it hard to be productive. 

It does make for a nice little spot to be outside in good weather, despite the view beyond of the parking lot and the constant jet-engine-like buzz/roar of the gas station’s air conditioner a half block away (if I play some nice music through the window, I can ignore that).  The absolutely glorious weather of the past week has made this a pleasant place to sip coffee in the morning and read or do needlework until the light fades in the evening. 

I work at enjoying this and at feeling sure I will have my yard again in the fullness of time.

Results Rule – or be careful what you work for.

Andy G. Pennington’s book came highly recommended and I was eager to get my hands on it.  I had to send for it through the wonderful “SWAN” library system here in Illinois, where with a few keystrokes and a mouse click I have access to more than 30 libraries as if they were all my own. 

There’s a lot of good stuff in the book.  Really.  It talks about pursuit of the best, accountability, admitting your mistakes, turning vision into action, creating behaviors that demonstrate values. 

But I will confess that I had to force myself to keep reading past the preface to find all these things.  Because the 1st sentence in the book is “Why is Wal-Mart the largest retailer in the world?”.  From my perspective, the answer to that question is: because it sells things for the cheapest prices around.  And it does that by having a vast underpaid non-benefited work force, by taking advantage of people who don’t have a lot of employment options.  It also does it by carefully putting huge mega-stores in areas where it can drive out all other competition, especially long-standing family-owned local small businesses. 

These are not the kinds of results I would want in a company with which I am affiliated.  And before you ask, no, I do not shop at Wal-Mart.  Even unemployed I would rather either pay a little more in a store that respects its employees, or go without for now. 

From my standpoint, if “results” only means profits and market dominance, then this is not what I want to “rule”.   The book’s premise is ‘the right culture can make all the difference’.  Indeed.  Egypt and Rome are two cultures I can think of that built long-standing cultures on slavery.  I am NOT comparing Wal-Mart employment to slavery, but I do believe there are some parallels.  It has to do with valuing people.   That is, valuing people over strictly financial “results”. 

In an attempt to be fair, Mr. Pennington talks about a lot of other companies, many of which I admire.  He also explicitly talks, later, about valuing people.  But he does not make the connection, and that disappoints me.  

Mr. Pennington talks later in the book about people fitting the culture.  I suppose he would say that Wal-Mart’s is a “culture” in which I do not fit.  Agreed.  But what about people who don’t have the choices and resources I have?  Should they and their children go without health care and life insurance because of Wal-Mart’s “culture”?   He says: “Results Rule! Leaders and organizations have an edge – a deep passion for competing, contributing, and yes, winning”.  Personally I don’t much care for the idea that “deep passion” and “fear of losing your job if you don’t accept what you get and keep your mouth shut” are the same thing. 

NB: this is a blog, a rant.  This is a larger story and Wal-Mart is not the only company on this planet whose values I do not respect.  It simply happens to be the one mentioned on the very first page of a book in which I had significant hopes – until I read that 1st page. 

Wal-Mart is successful in part because Americans often care about the lowest price over anything else.  Some people’s budgets pretty much require they think that way and others are hypocritical enough to complain about losses of American jobs but buy cheap stuff from overseas anyway.  But I cannot accept that this makes Wal-Mart a company with an admirable culture.   And I do not admire its results. 

Can you make money doing well?  I believe so.  But you have to a) not have money as your primary goal (or “result”, if you like), and b) be willing to invest in the longer term.  Loyal employees and satisfied customers are good for business in the long run.   In fact, assuming you aren’t actually losing money, they are good goals in and of themselves.

Maybe results do rule, as Mr. Pennington says.   But not all results rule with me.