Well the trepidation of starting a new job is starting to abate. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being most freaked out, I’m hovering at about a 9.7
This is serious stuff and while I’m worried that I might not be up to snuff, I’m at least getting into the subject matter and totally believe this job has potential.
This technology is medical and it’s about making the lives of people using the technology better. I’m not just talking about convenient. This device helps people manage an illness and that means that it makes a real difference.
When I was in the printer industry, I remember clearly asking if the world really needed another eight page a minute printer.
When I was in Escrow and Banking I realized that I was making a difference, until I also realized that the software protocols we were building into the software were chronically being over-ridden so that loan officers could package loans and escrows that would make them money but that would ultimately result in many home buyers being upside down on their loans when / if the bottom dropped out of the housing market.
We all know exactly where that ended up…
I moved to the Military industrial complex so that I’d have the ability to contribute to bringing more of our troops home safe. At least that was the plan. Congress being Congress and The President being The President, they completely forgot that while they were measuring dicks playing games with the financials of the country and engaging in party politics that their actions had a direct and terminal effect on all kinds of projects in the Military industrial complex. Most of those effects were less safety for our troops and tons of people being tossed out onto the streets when projects were cancelled due to lack of funding.
I ask again where the morons in politics loyalties actually lie. I know the answer, it was a rhetorical question.
I suppose that I’ve always wanted to contribute something, anything that would make a difference and that would ultimately leave the world a better place for my having been in it.
That’s how I came to be interested in Social Justice, and that’s also why I’m no longer interested in the “normal” social justice warrior crowd. They (as a broad generality) are interested in their pound of flesh, being perpetual victims, and I’d hazard a guess, getting some kind of revenge. Or, as in the case of the HRC crowd finding a way for their cause to net them millions of dollars for their schmoozing with the “in” crowd.
This company is interested in making money, as am I.
The difference between this company and virtually all the others I’ve worked for, is that they’re also about making life better for people suffering from diabetes.
I had no idea that managing this disease was so very difficult, I was equally clueless about the devastating effects that managing the more severe aspect of the disease could have, not only on the person with the disease, but on their families and their loved ones. I’m learning a lot about it and begin to have a very tiny inkling of the emotional costs.
I’ve got friends that have the most severe form of the disease and while I was aware of their dependance on insulin and the care with which they planned their meals and lives, it’s so much more complex that I ever imagined.
Picture yourself as a parent with a child who has the most severe form of the disease. Now imagine what its like to wake up every night several times a night to go check on your child who might be having an event that could literally kill them in their sleep.
How about considering what it would be like if your spouse could go to sleep and simply never wake up.
This is serious stuff!
My friends who manage their diabetes silently, and with such grace are quite simply amazing. I’m glad to have gained an appreciation that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
At its core, my job is to help give folks with the disease, parents of little children, and spouses, a tool…
A little bit of technology, that will monitor and warn them that they, or their loved one may be heading into a life threatening situation. Even better is they may then be able to intervene appropriately and early enough to head the problem off before they have to make a 911 call or sit in an ER wondering if their loved one is going to be alright.
That’s leading me to think that perhaps this is exactly the right place for me to feed my soul and be happy in my work. I don’t want to jinx it, but perhaps after all of my ups and downs, I may have finally found the right place for me.
Perhaps by my small contribution kids can be kids. Lovers to keep on loving and folks who’ve wanted to climb mountains, or be athletes to do just that.
This is what technology is supposed to do. This is the kind of thing that I, and many of my colleagues used to believe in. Then slowly it became about shareholder prices, profit, and stock options.
In my heart of hearts i still believe technology should make differences in lives, and / or the world.
Games? Big Deal!
Email? Hey, you can lick a stamp.
Those are interesting uses of technology but they’re ephemeral.
This company and it’s products appear at first glance to be in line with my core beliefs and it’s very possible that I’ll have even more pride in what I do than I ever had in my entire career.
Of course I’m not longer that naive starry-eyed techie who was sold a bill of goods again and again.
So while I believe in the potential, I’m not going to swallow the corporate line I’m being fed, hook line and sinker.
I’m going to see where this leads and I pray that this company really does live up to their stated core values.
And no, I’m not going to try to sell you all on the products. They’re not right for everyone, but for those people this tech is right for, it can be a game changer. That right there is enough for me to sleep soundly at night.
Speaking of which, it’s time for me to go to bed.