Cranberry Stressline

Editorial

Columbus was an explorer and a businessman

9/16/02 -- A poster on the Forum who calls himself Christopher Columbus writes about Ocean Spray: "the people who are in charge of making the decisions have decided not to pursue a sale. We don't need any more distractions. Focus on the future and stop worrying about things you don't have any control over."

I am prompted to wonder whether had this poster been living in Spain in 1492, would he have even given the time of day to the real Columbus, let alone given him support or encouragement? Columbus, a businessman as well as an explorer, didn't sail off to find a new world, he set about to find a westward route to Asia.* Either would have been a crazy idea for most people. A distraction! But after Columbus found no support in Portugal, he moved to Spain where he managed to persuade Queen Isabel and King Fernando to support his mission.

Columbus lived in a time where monarchs ruled with rarely questioned authority. Today we live in a democracy and Ocean Spray growers belong to the ultimate of democratic companies, a cooperative. However, some of them seem to be thinking like the subjects of the kings and queens of fifteenth century Europe.

It is always easy to accept conventional wisdom and let your authority figures tell you how to think. It is those who worry constructively about problems that on first look seem to be out of their control, who eventually "discover" ways to actually gain control.

The people who are in charge of making decisions about looking at sale options for Ocean Spray aren't even polling their own growers to see if this is what the majority of them (as represented by shares) want them to do.

Ask yourself if it is ethical, if it is moral, for them to make their own decision based solely on what they want to do and what will profit most of them the most. Most of these decision makers, from highly paid employees to wealthy growers on the Board, have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo while 10-20% of the current cranberry acreage either stops producing or is purchased by the richer growers.

This means a considerable number a small shareholders will go bankrupt and leave Ocean Spray, thus tightening the control of the few over the many.

The Serenity Prayer is well known to many, especially as it is an integral part of helping alcoholics maintain sobriety through AA and is used in most other 12 step programs. It goes as follows:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

This message conveys the basis for most kinds of psychotherapy. It also offers advice that everyone can use to their great advantage. While it doesn't spell this out, it is all about how to face the inevitable trials and tribulations of living. Truly, it is better to be serene than worried sick over things you cannot change! But the last two lines are crucial, and without them there is neither a prayer nor a guide for living.

A member of AA named Mari says it better than I could on her web page:

(The) first sentence really should be the LAST sentence of the Serenity Prayer. Because before we make the decision to "accept the things we cannot change." we have to have the courage to change the things we can." And even before that, we have to have the wisdom to know the difference. Then .... and ONLY then .... can we can have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change.

She also writes about courage with great insight:

So when we say "The courage to change the things we can," we are not talking about changing others. We are mainly talking about changing ourselves. Many times we must set boundaries ... and, in doing so, things change. But all we can do is set the boundary and enforce it .... and that is where the word "courage" comes in .... because in setting boundaries, there is a risk. The risk is that the other person will not honor the boundaries. In fact, in some case, they will not even ACKNOWLEDGE the boundaries.

So there's the risk.

To implement or not.

And there's that word ....

Courage.

Finally, Mari writes about wisdom:

If we have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and go about changing something that should NOT be changed, it could be disastrous. We need WISDOM to make SURE that what we are about to change SHOULD be changed.

If we have the COURAGE to change the things we can .... and, even though we have lots of courage and set about changing those things we can, we better darn sure have the WISDOM to know that it is something that needs changing. So ...... finally. The most important phrase of all. "The WISDOM to know the difference."

I can think of no better words of advice to Ocean Spray growers than those articulated by Mari as they decide how involved they want to be in running their own cooperative during what is the worst crisis the cranberry industry, and Ocean Spray, has ever faced.

* Columbus never abandoned the belief that he had reached Asia.

Front Page