Soapy parallels

So, I was taking dump at the hotel this morning... I didn't have anything to read at the time. All I could find was a bar of soap. I figured, well, it's better than just staring at the wall.

I began to read it's wrapper: "A botanical blend of ingredients to gently cleanse and condition the skin. Made with a pure aroma from organically grown plants and flowers and a luxurious blend of palm oils."

Directly below that, I read: "Ingredients: Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Palm Kernel Acid, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Mica and Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronte, Citric acid Iron Oxides, Yellow 5.

Hmmmm... you know... This bar of soap is a great parallel to airline CEOs. On one hand they are telling us how tough they have it, and how they can't make money, how many fees they must charge passengers, how expensive Jet-A is, how many crews will be furloughed, and how they can't afford to pay employees more money. Then, you look at their multi-million dollar salaries, custom suits, fancy cars, and endless stock options, none of which has ANYTHING to do with with their performance as a "captain of industry."

Why don't we ask them, "Hey, if you're the one running the company and taking all the credit and profit from success, why aren't you taking blame for the losses? Aren't you the big boss in charge? Could it be that you actually suck at your job and don't deserve your paycheck?"

Maybe you're good at it, maybe you're not. But, I think it's a question worth asking. I know if I can't perform on my job, my ass will be in the chief pilot's office with that very same question being asked of me. I think most people must perform on their job or they will risk losing that job.

Why is today's CEO considered so high and mighty? They are just people. Most are without medical, science or engineering degrees. They have accounting degrees and MBAs. They can be good, and they can really blow. It's time to weed out the ones that blow. It's time for performance based compensation for these high and mighty industry leaders. If they truly are so good, then they should have no problem whatsoever showing how awesome they are with RESULTS, thereby EARNING their paycheck. If they screw up, the don't get all their bonuses and stock options, and the make a meager wage like the rest of us. If they keep screwing up, it's out the damn door and no severance pay either!

If you take the job and say, "I can do this job and make this work," and you don't... that's false advertising and you shouldn't be rewarded for it. To bad, so sad.