“They don’t know right from wrong.”
On Monday morning, March 16, 2009, the Barometer was sitting in a waiting room with three other women who were also there for the annual face-off with GE torture racks that are gender-specific. Sitting in our pink gowns that open at the front, we are generally a quiet lot. HIPAA be damned, we all know why we are there. In she came, yet another brave soul, a tiny woman with a purpose, and as she took her seat she said, “Have you read about this AIG bonus thing?” The room erupted as the now four women condemned the lot of executives and bonus seekers at AIG.The Barometer, the fifth wheel, added, “They surely have a political tin ear.” The instigator sent fiery darts the Barometer’s way, “They don’t know right from wrong!” The other three agreed wholeheartedly and another added, “So few do any more.” Then the technician called a name, and one of us five was off to battle GE and compression. The waiting room was quiet again. Their frustrations had been aired. Their moral indignation was sounded. Their bottom line was now expressed. What a country! Those values are still there. When discussions of right and wrong erupt spontaneously among strangers awaiting mammograms we know three things: (1) That AIG crossed a few lines here and there on this boneheaded move; (2) That there is hope; (3) That companies need the moral compasses of women and other folks like them as we all try to sally forth from our economic setbacks.
