Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is home to one of the greatest PGA events of the year, The Masters. Augusta National is a privately owned and operated golf club with notable members such as, Warren Buffet, Pete Coors, and Bill Gates. Membership is by invitation only and, needless to say, I have yet to receive my invitation. (I am sure it just got lost in the mail.)
Over the years, August has been heavily criticized for some of their membership criteria. Most recently, Augusta was lambasted for their men-only membership policy. The Chairman of the Board in 2002, Hootie Johnson, responded with the following:
"Our membership is single gender just as many other organizations and
clubs all across America. These would include Junior Leagues,
sororities, fraternities, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and countless others.
And we all have a moral and legal right to organize our clubs the way
we wish."
Needless to say, this comment, along with others from Mr. Johnson, did not help to extinguish the controversy. Fanatics, such as Martha Burk, continued to espouse her opinion that Augusta was a "sexist" organization. (I have yet to have the opportunity to ask her opinions on the "sexism" of the Girl Scouts or all female sororities.)
Almost ten years after this widely publicized controversy, yesterday, August 20, 2012, Augusta National invited its first two women to become members of the golf club. Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore are both successful, powerful women who will now wear the coveted green jacket.
It is my hope that the members of Augusta have made this decision for the right reasons. In a time were political correctness and an everybody-should-feel-good-about-themselves attitude is overtaking our society, it is easy to be cynical. Hopefully, the members made the conscious decision to move in this direction and did not simply cave to the onslaught of pressure to be politically correct.
Personally, I agree with Mr. Johnson's sentiments regarding private organizations. (Obviously, this argument goes out the window if an organization accepts or is funded by public monies.) However, this is not to say that every person should agree or feel comfortable with the make-up of a private organization.
There are plenty of examples of private organizations that are, in my opinion, ridiculous. (Nazi organizations, Ku Klux Klan, Communist organizations, etc.) But, just as these organizations have the freedom to peacefully organize, I have the freedom to decline membership and laugh at the absurdity of their beliefs.
Political correctness has never been my strong suit, and I am sure, as with Mr. Johnson, many people will disagree with my opinions on this issue. So, to those who disagree, feel free to pick up your "participation ribbon" on the way out.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Corporations are People
I recently had a very horrible experience with a service provider. I will not name any names, as the service provider is an enormous provider with many, many lawyers.
As a quick synopsis of the experience, this is the fourth time I have had to contact this company in the last few months. They have mis-billed me several times, the service was not working, they forgot to bill me for several months and then billed me for all those months without warning, etc. Needless to say, my patience was thin.
For anyone that has ever called a company such as this, you know that you will wait on hold for hours to only accomplish one of the following outcomes:
1. You are disconnected
2. You finally get to speak to a real human, but they unfortunately only speak Swahili
3. You hang up in frustration because you have burned your entire day and have to do something productive or your phone just died
If you are anything like me, you will eventually connect with a real person. Very infrequently are people at these types of companies very friendly. Let's face it, if you got paid minimum wage to talk to people like me about terrible experiences, you would not be very friendly either.
My conversation with this particular "customer service representative" went downhill rather quickly. I cannot (and probably would not) give a play-by-play of this conversation, as I quickly went into a blind rage. This person's day did not get off to a great start.
However, before I decided to abruptly terminate the conversation, I informed this provider that I would most certainly terminate my agreement with them if I ever was forced to grace them with another phone call.
Some may see this as abrasive, my wife included. I also feel somewhat bad for these individuals that have to take the brunt of frustrations that are very much outside of their control. But, it is the company places these people in this position, not me.
This entire encounter made me realize that, politics aside, Corporations are in fact "people." There are all types of people we deal with every day. Some of these people, much like my service provider, are jerks. Nobody really wants to deal with them, but they have something we need and we are forced to deal with them. Some Corporations are just there. Some are very friendly, and always pleasant to deal with.
There are many Corporations I have dealt with that are jerks. For the most part, I do not deal with them. Further, I take every opportunity to tell people I know to steer clear of them. Conversely, if a Corporation is a good person, I am glad to deal with them and recommend them to my friends and family.
So, I say this to any Corporation, don't be a jerk.
As a quick synopsis of the experience, this is the fourth time I have had to contact this company in the last few months. They have mis-billed me several times, the service was not working, they forgot to bill me for several months and then billed me for all those months without warning, etc. Needless to say, my patience was thin.
For anyone that has ever called a company such as this, you know that you will wait on hold for hours to only accomplish one of the following outcomes:
1. You are disconnected
2. You finally get to speak to a real human, but they unfortunately only speak Swahili
3. You hang up in frustration because you have burned your entire day and have to do something productive or your phone just died
If you are anything like me, you will eventually connect with a real person. Very infrequently are people at these types of companies very friendly. Let's face it, if you got paid minimum wage to talk to people like me about terrible experiences, you would not be very friendly either.
My conversation with this particular "customer service representative" went downhill rather quickly. I cannot (and probably would not) give a play-by-play of this conversation, as I quickly went into a blind rage. This person's day did not get off to a great start.
However, before I decided to abruptly terminate the conversation, I informed this provider that I would most certainly terminate my agreement with them if I ever was forced to grace them with another phone call.
Some may see this as abrasive, my wife included. I also feel somewhat bad for these individuals that have to take the brunt of frustrations that are very much outside of their control. But, it is the company places these people in this position, not me.
This entire encounter made me realize that, politics aside, Corporations are in fact "people." There are all types of people we deal with every day. Some of these people, much like my service provider, are jerks. Nobody really wants to deal with them, but they have something we need and we are forced to deal with them. Some Corporations are just there. Some are very friendly, and always pleasant to deal with.
There are many Corporations I have dealt with that are jerks. For the most part, I do not deal with them. Further, I take every opportunity to tell people I know to steer clear of them. Conversely, if a Corporation is a good person, I am glad to deal with them and recommend them to my friends and family.
So, I say this to any Corporation, don't be a jerk.
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