Orwell only missed it by 30 years. In his book 1984 George Orwell wrote about a society where everyone was under surveillance and conformity to strict standards and rules were expected. All one needs to do is look around today to see that nightmare coming into full fruition. Our streets and buildings are lined with cameras that follow our every move; BIG BROTHER now monitors our e-mails, texts messages, and phone calls and freedom of the press is being suppressed more and more on a daily basis while we are inundated with paperwork and bureaucracy on a level that makes the dark comedy movie BRAZIL look tame by comparison. It became abundantly clear to me a few weeks ago just how far things have progressed down the slippery slope when the company I work for sent out a memo instructing people on how to walk in the hall ways and setting up a policy for doing so. From now on ALL persons are to walk on the right side of the hall and if you are making a turn into a left corridor you must make a “wide turn” to the right wall in doing so. Persons failing to abide by this new policy will be subject to “possible disciplinary action!” We were also instructed neither to “loiter in halls” nor to “stop for conversation” with someone coming in the opposite direction and a person with hand cart or moving equipment has the right of way. Now all of this doesn’t seem too bad on the surface, but what happened to common sense, doesn’t all this smack of a society where individuals are assumed to be incapable of making any reasonable decisions and taking actions on their own? It got me thinking and moments later when I went into the rest room I saw further evidence of the level to which our ability to think for ourselves has been removed from us. I had noted over the past few years a sign or two being posted in the restroom, but when I looked this time and started reading all the signs I realized just how stupid the company thinks the employees are (and they may be right). There was a sign telling persons using the toilet to be sure to flush after using, a note by the toilet tissue holder telling person to change the roll if it was empty, where the paper was, and how to install a new roll. A sign by the light and fan switch saying NOT to turn either off during working hours. A note on the mirror instructing people to wash their hands and to use soap (seriously), a note on the paper towel dispenser telling people to place paper towel in trash can when finished and not to flush them down the toilet. I noted there was even a note by the door lock explaining how to lock the door. Finally on the back of the door there was another notice telling the person to check and make sure all the other rules had been followed before leaving and to make sure they had not left their cell phone behind. I must confess that up until this time I had not read all these notices, I simply flushed, washed, and changed toilet paper the way I had been taught to as a kid growing up and never felt I needed assistance or someone telling me where and when to do so. Now I will admit there are some careless slobs in this world who do not follow these common sense actions, but REALLY does anyone think that these signs will make a difference for these individuals, I have serious doubts if they can read, and didn’t we learn all these things growing up? I still see empty toilet paper rolls, paper towels on the floor and occasionally an unflushed toilet, the only thing I haven’t seen, YET, is a camera in the restroom making sure the rules are being followed. In the kitchen area there are signs telling people to wash their cups and dishes and NOT to dump coffee grounds in the sink. There is a note on the coffee pot telling people that if they take the last cup they are to make another pot of coffee. A note on the refrigerator reminding people if they have stuff in the refrigerator to make sure they take anything left over home at the end of the week. There are notes on the stairs telling people to be sure to use the hand rails when going up or down the stairs, in fact there are so many notes and signs everywhere telling people how and when to do things that I wonder how we ever evolved enough for someone to have gotten smart enough to make the first rules and signs. Have we gotten so accustomed to having people tell us what to do, where to stand and how high to jump when they say “jump” that we are unable to do so on our own initiative? I’m not against rules or signs, we do need them in many situations, but really, has humanity gotten so stupid that someone need to tell us how to do everything, and if it has, doesn’t this say something about how we are educating our children so that they need to have others tell them how to think and do everything while not encouraging and coaxing them to think and do things for themselves. As we relegate more and more responsibility over to others (i.e. the government) we lose more than just the right to make decisions for ourselves, we lose the ability to think for ourselves as well and become meaningless slaves in a hive like society wherein individuality becomes lost and the individual becomes the enemy until life itself becomes meaningless. One last note, the above story is true and not fabricated to illustrate a point.
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 01:25:10 +0000
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