Enough is Enough

For the past year and a half the only statement that I heard repeatedly is “what, you think this is America?” I am sick and tired of hearing this statement whenever I communicate an issue. I have heard these very words in all sorts of places and from all sorts of people. It seems to insinuate a carte blanch excuse (useless in my opinion) for every single incompetence, poor law, stupid regulation, crappy implementation, and problem that the country has. The funny thing is that early on after our move back to Jordan we did compare things to the USA quite a bit, however we grew out of it. Unfortunately, it seems that the country has not. Try telling a manager at a retail outlet about their poor level of service and you’ll get this answer. Walk into a government office and make an observation to someone in charge about the poor process and you’ll hear this phrase. Complain to building contractors about horrible safety standards and you’ll again be told this snidely.

I get it, we are not America and we are not in America either. Yes, we are in Jordan. But wait. Jordan may not be considered a first world country but isn’t it time we did our share to help it advance? Isn’t it time we tried to strive for better as opposed to rolling our eyes and saying “oh well?”

Regardless of whether a person wants to try root cause/analysis or problem solving techniques, one thing is clear. There are problems that are too complex to solve or offer very little impact in terms of help. However, the reality of the matter is that this is no different than any other country on the face of earth.

I’ve even spent time trying to figure out the difference between problems, symptoms, and causes. Throughout all this introspection I realized that whether it is poor process, lack of training, incompetence in leadership, or a variety of other causes, often the solution is the same. In fact I realized that the answer was staring me in the face. We don’t have to solve all the problems, we only have to attempt to identify one solution to one problem. This problem would have to have a simple solution whilst generating such a high impact in terms of improving life in Jordan.

I spent the better part of my hourly walk this evening attempting to determine what it was and again it hit me. The problem that has an easy solution and a high impact is Smoking in Public places. The added benefit in tackling this problem is the fact that it is a symptom, cause, and problem all rolled up in one. Allow me to explain.

Scenario 1 – People who smoke in public places where a non-smoking sign is posted display a great deal of disrespect for others. Thus smoking in the public place in this case is a symptom.
Scenario 2 – A mother carrying a 9 month old infant in one hand and a cigarette in another while walking in the mall is a problem because the second hand smoke is attacking her child’s lungs.
Scenario 3 – A child with parents who are smokers constantly skipping school due to repeated illness. Thus smoking in this case is a cause.

This is perhaps one of the very few areas where the power of the individual citizen is as strong as any armed law enforcement official. Average citizens all over the country can take part in stopping this barbaric habit and help Jordan’s modernization and advancement. Citizens can bond together to demand that inconsiderate smokers stop their behavior. It is not only the right thing to do, but the only thing we must to do help our children live in a Jordan that is better than the one we live in.

You could argue that there are other, more worthy causes. You could also argue that the effort is too great. In fact you may be right, but isn’t it worth a try?

Here’s what I suggest. Let us start small, with a grass roots effort to ask people to sign a petition that is submitted to the appropriate government officials requesting that a ban be put in place against smoking in public places. The litmus test for me is this. Any place where it is reasonable to expect a child or a pregnant lady will be present is a place that should have a ban on smoking.

For those of you who are non-smokers or considerate smokers, I encourage you to join me in this quest to make Jordan a little better for our children. As for those of you who are inconsiderate smokers, I respect your right to kill yourself but not me in the process.

Please forward this post to all Jordanians who care. Go to http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/JordanSmokingBan to sign the petition.

Peace