It was published in The Tennessean newspaper, the first weekend of 2012. An article I’d written about courteous behavior… ‘civility.’
Back then, other articles I’d written, about negative public opinion of Wall Street firms and big banks, and — in the aftermath of the Great Recession — financial firms needing to get back to various principles of banking and finance, had been published in a financial industry newspaper, The American Banker.
In The Tennessean, I’d written:
Believing that thought leaders in the beleaguered, image-challenged financial industry might benefit from (my American Banker) column, I sent copies…to bankers associations…figuring that it would be beneficial to share ideas about the industry’s troubling image issues.
With politicians trying to get a handle on the industry’s problems, I thought elected officials might want to be aware of the column. I (had) sent it to various members of Congress and to political organizations, including national and state Republican and Democratic party groups…
I never heard back from any of the politicians or political groups I had reached out to. But one, out of 40 financial industry organizations, in the U.S. and other nations, did get back to me.
That humorous social commentator, of yore, Will Rogers… you’ve got wonder what he, perhaps, might have been thinking — and, perhaps, saying — about politicians, the elected representatives of the people, sometimes ignoring people.
If you’re reaching out to officials in your town, or county, I sure hope they’re responding to your phone calls, or emails.
When that article of mine ran in The Tennessean, some readers thought I was full of it. Maybe, even all those years ago, they were thinking I was some kind of snowflake, for expressing concerns about civility? Were they thinking I was ‘woke’?
I’m still not sure exactly what ‘woke’ means. I’ve got to look it up.
But ‘civility’ and ‘courteous behavior’… those words are clearly defined in dictionaries.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.