I flew Southwest Airlines to Dallas, and my seatmate startled me by offering to buy me a beer with a special ticket he had. I shyly demurred, instinctively worried that accepting the beer obligated me to talk.
Of course he didn't want to talk to me at all. He just had an extra beer ticket and a generous attitude. But after finding out how he got the ticket—he's a Southwest employee, headed down to the Love Field headquarters for some leadership training (or "Kool-Aid drinkin'," as he put it with a chuckle)—I wanted to talk to him.
I asked him about Herb Kelleher, the legendary hard-drinking, heavy smoking Southwest Chairman. He and his three young colleagues, who were sitting in nearby seats, had each met Kelleher a number of times. They said he does indeed drink hard liquor and despite that fact never forgets any employee's name once he has heard it.
"It's pretty amazing," my seatmate said. No--with 30-some thousand Southwest employees, it's impossible, despite the fact that it's also, apparently, true.
On the way home from Dallas yesterday, reading the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly, which amounts to a great collection of essays on "The American Idea," it occurred to me that Southwest Airlines would make a very short list of American institutions I still admire without reservation or suspicion.
What's on your list?
P.S. This issue of the Atlantic is fantastic; it's the 150th anniversary issue and I read it cover-to-cover. I've grabbed a tiny handful of my favorite remarks about The American Idea, which I'll sprinkle around on this blog between posts. (Perhaps this will temporarily sate my appetite for blowing hard on politics.) Here's the first:
I've had the priviledge of spending time with some of the poorest people in this country and some of the richest, and it's left me feeling that we have far too many of both. The best lives, the happiest and most satisfied ones, seem to be lived somewhere in between. —Eric Schlosser, investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation
Comments (6)
Hey, David. Your very American question alienates the millions of readers of this blog who aren't American. Or am I the only one?
There are other countries in the world, with other institutions, you know! ;)
Problem is, here in Canada, I can't think of one institution I truly admire "without reservation or suspicion."
The once squeaky-clean Royal Canadian Mounted Police are now a national disgrace, dogged by scandal after scandal.
Our Canadian government has had credibility problems ever since our first Prime Minister, the boozehound Sir John A. MacDonald, barfed in the middle of a speech he was making to the House of Commons.
Our medical system? Maybe it's admired by other countries but the waiting lists are horrendous and morale amongst embittered nurses and doctors is perennially low.
The Canadian Army is improving its image lately, but there are enough negative stories in recent years to keep them from being unreservedly admired.
We have a national radio and TV network called the CBC that does a lot of great programming, but it's also famously bureaucratic and has a reputation for not treating its journalists very well.
The only thing I can think of is our national pension plan, which is well-managed and solvent.
So, I guess we Canadians sympathize with our southern neighbors in that most of our institutions lie about us in tatters. It's no wonder that outfits like Southwest Airlines are so revered. We all wish we could belong to a healthier, saner society with institutions we can admire and trust. My hope is we're going through a painful transition and in a generation or two we'll have some kind of a cultural/societal renewal.
But for everyone alive today, the solution is to make the best of our own communities, and our own circles of friends, which is why social media are taking off like they are.
Posted by Ron Shewchuk | November 14, 2007 12:03 PM
Posted on November 14, 2007 12:03
As we grow up, we tend to become more realistic. That's how marriages can last: we quit looking for perfection and "settle" for wonderful. So I love some organizations even though they're run by human beings who may mess up sometimes. I love and support the organizations because they were founded based on a conviction and have, for the most part, stayed true to that conviction.
These organizations include the Red Cross, Special Olympics, and Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula, Calif.) and St. John's College (Annapolis, Md. and Santa Fe, N.M.) All undergrads take the same courses based on reading and discussion of great books of the Western tradition; that's all they're offered. If I were 17 again and knew what I know now, I think I'd choose one of these colleges.
Posted by Jane Greer | November 14, 2007 12:40 PM
Posted on November 14, 2007 12:40
Not a single institution, but an entire system of institutions: the community college model of higher education. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I find it interesting that you asked for institutions that we revere in this country and a Canadian enters the discussion first to whine about your use of "American" and then to whine about all the problems with Canadian institutions. I guess I just can't connect the dots between your positive, upbeat message and the mega-whining from our northern neighbor.
Will
Posted by Will Daniel | November 15, 2007 4:42 PM
Posted on November 15, 2007 16:42
Libraries. I love libraries. I know they've had their issues - nutties who want censorship and all that. Not to mention government weenies and meanies who want to cut their budgets all the time. (Do not even get me started on the "Library" of Congress - which should be known as the U.S. Museum of Books). But generally speaking, they are SO WONDERFUL. Rooms full of books and saintly people (librarians) devoted to helping you find information. I'm not religious, but if I were, my church would be the library.
Posted by Amy | November 16, 2007 9:27 AM
Posted on November 16, 2007 09:27
Many librarians are not saintly, but rather quite crusty and sometimes snotty.
Still, I agree: Libraries are the best, and people are at their best when they're in a library: Quiet and curious.
Posted by David Murray | November 16, 2007 11:06 AM
Posted on November 16, 2007 11:06
Crusty and snotty? You must not have been behaving. Librarians reserve crusty and snotty for the rowdies, you know. In fact, I think there's a course you have to take to get your MLS called "Mastering Crusty and Snotty."
Posted by Amy | November 20, 2007 11:01 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 23:01