The Microwave Version of Respect
St Louis, MO
April 26, 2018
The Cardinals are to St Louis what the “Canon in D” is to Pachabel’s oeuvre…it’s not all there is to it, but it’s the only thing anyone usually brags about.
They are the unifying force and central object around which the disparate components of this city and region revolve.
The mid-western niceness with which they support the local nine, and good-naturedly “harass” fans of other teams, is in sharp contrast to counterparts in other cities.
In Philadelphia I was once showered with beer (at least I think it was beer) and commands to perform anatomical impossibilities merely for donning a Braves hat and jacket.
At Busch Stadium years later, St Louis fans, as if I was inadvertently drinking from their water glass or using the wrong bread plate, sheepishly suggested stadium stores to exchange my Giants hat for one bearing the local logo. It was as if they blessed my heart for not knowing any better.
For two games this week we were shielded even from these enthusiastically gentle souls by a reserved suite one night, and a view from atop the “Ballpark Hilton” the next.
The following day, we ended our annual gathering at our local office in a series of meetings none of you, like many in attendance, could care any less about.
This year’s pow wow was particularly poignant. The leader of our global organization, who hired me seven years ago, built and strengthened the team, and enabled its global expansion, accepted a new role within the company and left a large pair of unfilled shoes in his prior one.
The president of our St Louis-based business unit joined and “enlivened” one morning session.
An eclectic Argentine genius who is, as Churchill said of John Foster Dulles, a bull who carries his own China shop with him, charged head-long into his audience bearing intimidation on the point of both horns.
Pulling pins from his rhetorical grenades, he lobbed indiscriminate questions that soon left his village of victims, like kids in a fifties nuclear bomb drill (but with more futility), cowering in (or under) their chairs.
Demands for pointed hypotheticals and obscure specifics about our competitors and customers placed attendees in the unenviable position of fearing for their positions.
I am sure this tactic earns the respect of some…and the fear of most.
Maybe that was the point.
After all, fear is the microwave version of respect…it’s not as good, but it’s a lot faster.
JD
