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September 21, 2001

All as one

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By the time you read this column, many days will have passed since the New York and Washington attacks. As I write, though, it has been only 48 hours. No one can ignore what happened on September 11, 2001 and I feel I cannot ignore it either. Trying to proceed with business as usual would be useless, as the world will never be quite the same as it was.

Re-dedicate

Little seems important after any tragedy, even those less traumatic than this one, but all of us have a chance to re-dedicate our lives and our work in the aftermath. In fact, I call on all of you to examine your life and your career, as I am examining mine right now. We, as survivors of this tragedy, have a chance to make the world a better place. A chance denied to those who died. Each and every one of us should do our best to not squander this opportunity.

Your first step is to find a way, today, to improve your life and the lives of others around you. If you are reading this column, you most likely work in high-tech. High-tech has been touted, in some ways, rightly, as a way to improve communication and understanding around the world. Now is the time to make these claims a reality. Now is the time to examine your work and its place in the grand scheme of things. Even the most basic high-tech job has repercussions far beyond your immediate peers and managers. You effect the world with every action you take and you should have a clear understanding of this responsibility.

Are you helping to make technology live up to its possibilities or not? If you feel your current work does not make the world a better place in some small way, change it. Find some work, some company, that allows you to make a difference. If you don’t, you will end up regretting it for the rest of your life. The events of the last month should be the only proof you need that life is short and fleeting and you only have a limited time to do the best you can. Make the most of it.

Reach out

Everyone around you is hurting, just as you are. Now is the time to reach out and shake someone’s hand, put your arm around their shoulders, perhaps offer and embrace and then, together, find a way to make the world a better place, in whatever form you can. It is important for all of us to do the best work of which we are capable in order for us to return to some sort of normal life. Regardless of your work, someone, maybe many people, will be depending on you. You, and your work, are important, regardless of what you do. You are part of society, and as such everything you do effects those around you.

It is especially important to reach out to those around you who are facing enormous stress due to their religious affiliations or race. High-tech is well known for its egalitarian nature. I often call it a meritocracy, where your skills, not your color or your race determine how far you can go. Many of us work side by side with those who might face harassment or attack from other, less enlightened members of our society. This should not, and cannot be accepted. America is a land of immigrants, many who came here to escape prejudice, intolerance and exactly the type of terrorism we recently experienced. Now is the time for all of us to band together as one, both in our work and our lives.

No one has any idea what the next few weeks will bring, just as many of our parents had no idea what the attack on Pearl Harbor would mean to their lives. By focusing on our own lives, our work and the lives of those around us, we will be able to face whatever may come, together.

 

about this column.

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Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on Douglas' web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/

He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com

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