Whose Right?

“‎Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.” ~ John Wooden, American basketball player and coach (1910-2010)

“I saw it first!” Joel pointed as he spoke to punctuate his statement. “First come, first served, that’s the rule, Daddy-o.”

“Whose rule?” Stan responded flatly. “Last I checked, rank had its privileges. I’m a higher salary grade than you, so you need to step aside. This is mine.”

This was not the first time Stan and Joel had been at odds over which came first, longevity or seniority. This time was no different. Joel had been at the company five years longer than Stan, but Stan was a higher salary grade.

Joel decided to try a new approach. “Besides, I need the space. I have to keep all the old paper files in my cubical. I’m sure we’re violating some safety code by them being there. This one is a full foot wider. They will fit here perfectly, assuring my safety.”

“Baloney!  We’re not violating any safety regs. Besides, I need that space to meet with my staff when we do our ‘One-on-Ones.’”

“‘One-on-Ones!’ You told the admin assistant you needed the conference room for that so you could have a closed door. How are you going to close the door on a cubicle?”

Stan and Joel stood facing each other just outside the cubicle entry. “Excuse me!” came the voice, startling both of them. Marjorie, the Office Services Manager, passed quickly between them and into the cubicle. Once inside, she dropped a pile of notebooks on the desktop and plunked her laptop bag and purse in the chair.

Her two male coworkers stared at her in disbelief. “What do you think you’re doing?” they barked almost simultaneously. “Settling in,” she replied calmly.

“But I was here first,” sputtered Joel. “And I out-rank you,” exclaimed Stan.

“And I’m here to tell you both that this cubicle is slated to be relocated to another building along with 18 others.  If either of you want it, you are welcome to move in. If however, it gets relocated and your old cubicle has been occupied by someone else, you will probably end up with a desk out on the floor. Wha-da-ya-say, boys? Any takers? ” Marjorie gestured with her open hand like a carnival barker.

Joel and Stan looked at each other then back at Marjorie. “We’ll stay where we are,” they replied simultaneously and quickly disappeared.

Marjorie was placing her purse in the drawer when Joanna, her Administrative Assistant appeared in the doorway. “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with those two mutton-heads. This cubicle isn’t on our list to be relocated is it?”

“No,” Marjorie replied with a sly smile. “But, by the time those two yahoos figure that out, I’ll already be moved in and settled.”

We live in a world where personal rights sometimes supplant the public good. It has been referred to as the “tyranny of relevancy.” The problem with exercising our personal rights comes when we interfere with someone else exercising their personal rights. In such a case, whose rights are right?

When this occurs, as in the story of Stan, Joel and Marjorie, rights are often decided by such things such as entitlement, status, power, wealth – or sometimes by being downright devious.

Stewardship, on the other hand, operates on the basis of the common good, rather than personal rights. If we see all that we have and all that we are as gifts from a higher power, rather than rights to which we are entitled, the outcome is quite different. 

The question is, are we willing to share all that we have in order to make the world a better place, or are we going to continue to insist that the only rights that matter are our own?

Dear God: Remind me that I am only right when I am doing your will.

 “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” ~Jane Addams, American pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace.

©2013 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.