BATTING AVERAGES
by Melvyn R. Copen* July 30, 1999
© Mel Copen, July, 1999

This column marks the beginning of what I hope will be a long relationship with you, the reader, and with the Forsyth County News. Like most of us, I have strong opinions or perceptions on a number of subjects – probably more than I should. By sharing my viewpoints, I hope to stimulate thinking , get reactions that will help refine my own thinking and, hopefully, contribute to the pool of general knowledge and good conversation.

I spent a long time thinking about the subject of this initial effort. Many thoughts came to mind: technology – the frustrations of getting help with computer or internet problems that aren’t supposed to exist; telephoning a credit card company to get an answer to a simple question and spending 5 minutes listening to alternative messages and punching numbers to get though the automated maze only to be disconnected or to learn that you must start all over with another 11 digit number; the horrible traffic running up and down GA 400, and all that things that could have or should have been done to foresee and prevent what now exists; the crime rate and reminisces about “ancient” times when nobody ever felt the need to lock a home; and the negativism of much of the news in the media with an emphasis on murders, disasters, failures and the like.

As I reflected on these subjects, it suddenly dawned on me that most of these thoughts were also directed toward the negative things that I was unhappy about. Why didn’t the happy items receive equal billing – particularly since there are so many more of them?

There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism – if it is focused on stimulating a positive response that will help correct problem situations. But too often our thinking is shaped by the things that bother us, sometimes just a single issue that clouds everything else. For a few, this negativism shows up in extreme anti-social behavior – road rage and random violence – even children performing lethal acts in school. But for most of us it just simmers, mostly on a low burner in the background, tending to color our outlook on life, sometimes without our even knowing it’s there.

So I have decided to try to “accentuate the positive.” A substantial portion of my career has been as an educator. The rest has been in industry and government. Much of what I have done has involved living and working abroad, including extensive international travel. I have seen people struggling in restrictive political and social environments that offered only a fraction of the economic freedom and opportunity that we have in the US today – even within the least affluent sectors of our society. I have also had a taste of trying to get things done with the further handicap of not fully understanding the language or mechanisms at work. This has provided a perspective which may add a somewhat different flavor.

This week, on two different occasions, I was asked a question that went something like: “if you had to chose one place to live for the rest of your life, of all the places in the world where you have lived or visited, which would it be?” It’s a question I have encountered many times. For me, it has a simple answer. The answer is “right here where I am today.”

Why? Sure, knowing the customs and the language are big advantage (although as a transplant from the north, I still haven’t learned to speak “Southern” with all its rich sounds and expressions). But there is something much deeper. Many countries offer beautiful surroundings like Switzerland, low living costs like Costa Rica, or excellent services, like Japan’s on-time, comfortable bullet trains. Some even use English. However, if one tallies all the things that are important – at least to me – there is no other nation in the world that offers as many positives as this country does. For all its many faults, the positives so outweigh the negatives, that there is no contest. People who have not spent time outside this country may not have the perspective and often see “greener pastures” elsewhere. And even those who have experienced the alternatives, like me, can get caught up in negative thinking and forget. The secret is to appreciate the positives, to address the negatives from a constructive point of view and to enjoy the net result. It’s like a batting average. We don’t expect the Atlanta Braves to field a team that bats 1000. A much lower figure will suffice – and will win championships. And note that batting averages are reported as positive numbers, not as the negative distance from 1000.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Ellis Island – a small bit of land in the middle of New York harbor that welcomed all four of my grandparents almost a century ago. Their story was not unlike that of 12,000,000 other immigrants who came through that facility and to whom 40% of us today owe our US nationality. Many came not knowing the language, the laws or what awaited them in their newly adopted nation. They left family, friends and everything familiar to seek a better life. Certainly by our standards today they encountered hardships. But everything is relative. The negatives of their past experiences established a threshold that made their “present” seem positive in almost every aspect. Not only did most of them find what they sought – they literally made it happen. Today’s affluence has brought with it a very different perspective and set of priorities.

A few days ago a friend mentioned seeing an old movie classic -”The Best Years of Our Lives.” The story is about three service-men returning from WWII, one of whom had lost his hands. My friend found the mood of the movie to be too “upbeat” to be realistic. It suddenly dawned on me that he was reflecting the impact of, first, Korea and then Vietnam – the only reference frames he had. The WWII concepts of self-sacrifice and doing without, of patriotism and heroism seem to have been lost in the background. Like kudzu, a more negative tone has grown over the underlying structure. But that structure still exists, and we see it show through at such times as the overwhelming positive reaction to a brave Atlanta fire-fighter risking his life to save a construction worker on a burning crane.

It’s that underlying structure that I want to address. I will write about the positive things in life, offer perspectives on important events and what they mean, and provide constructive commentary on the things that can be changed for the better. I will write about diversity and the richness it can add to everyone’s lives, on issues of international trade and commerce and factors that encourage or inhibit progress. And I will explore areas where I believe misconceptions exist and where clarification can lead to progress and satisfaction. Most of all, I’d like to emphasize the positive things that affect Forsyth County, not only coming from within our own boundaries, but from around the world.

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