LOOK AT ME, I HAVE NO LIFE! My pal Dave at just procrastinating makes a nice post about a recent FAST COMPANY profile of some guy named Ram Charan. (He's also got a good little riff about THE APPRENTICE.) Basically the article seems to celebrate this guy's lack of a life outside his work. Anyway, it ticked me off, so I went a bit batty on Dave's comments pop-up. I wrote:

Geez, this kind of stuff bugs me, too, Dave. Seems like the bizpress is always lionizing some imbalanced jerkball who works too much, is mentally and/or physically unhealthy, is divorced, etc. Heck, it's not just the bizpress. We're always quick to make heroes out of rockers and actors who live to gross excess (sexually, drugs, etc.). Or we love the ones who've sniffed the edge, peered over the abyss, then after getting their ass handed to 'em in a handbasket, discovered that family time and clean living ain't so bad after all.

We never seem to latch onto folks who didn't create a career around depravity and excess, who maybe only meandered a bit in college or during some apprenticeship period, then righted the ship and worked at a lifelong, committed relationship, were thrifty and family-oriented, and nurtured their health. No, those guys bore us.

The real heroes of our culture are the men and women who dare to be ordinary, who refuse to be knocked off balance by our celebration of excess, and who simply go about their daily drudgery with love and compassion for those around them.

Anyway, I typed the above on the quick, without stopping, and I rather liked it. So I figgered I'd port it over here.