Since everything’s right with the world, and we all are living in as close to paradise as possible, it’s no wonder that we feel shock (and awe) over the recent federal indictment of Roger Clemens for telling lies to Congress. The case revolves around Clemen’s testimony before Congress regarding his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs while a major league superstar. While he denied such use, he was subsequently ratted out by his long-time personal trainer.
So, and rather than concentrate on the economy, terrorist threats,the price of gas and why your boss won’t give you a raise for the foreseeable, let’s all bash a retired baseball player. It is easier, don’t you think? And lying before Congress-that biggest collection of corrupt slimeballs ever congregated in one place?!
If any group has ever mastered the fine art of corruption, deception, and militant hypocrisy, it’s them! Frankly, I don’t think, given their thorough lack of a moral (or ethical) compass, that they would be able to know the truth from a lie, even if they wanted to. Yet, our tax dollars continue to pay them, as they make one bad decision after another.
Performance enhancers are nothing but a myth, at least in this context. After all, what do you call nepotism, favoritism, racism or sexism (and for sure their reverses) anything but performance enhancers? It doesn’t take 20/20 vision, nor keen insight, to scan your company or office to see the results of these other types of performance enhancers. These are the folks who get promotions irrespective of tenure (or ability), receive raises and bonuses denied to the more deserving, get all-expense paid trips, and a host of other goodies. They are called being born rich, attending Ivy League schools, being related to the Chairman of the Board, having the ‘right’ look, and/or an array of other talents and abilities that might simply be attributed to good genes.
And so it goes; if I take more vitamins than you, I may have more vigor. If you wear better clothes than I do, you look more ‘executive’. Taller people are perceived of as more powerful than their more diminutive counterparts, and let’s face it-better looking people just get more breaks-and not only in the workplace. Oh, and for those who like to recall the good ole days, and say that, for example, Joe DiMaggio was a natural star who never took performance enhancers, think about this. Joltin’ Joe had a caffiene and nicotine fix between every inning, privately sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes while sitting alone in the runway. Should Congress, that virtuous paragon, now seek to posthumously take away his batting championships, or even his World Series rings?
The point is that we’ve all got our very own performance enhancers, and whether they come from luck, good genes or even chemically, they do just that-enhance performance. BTW, what’s your favorite enhancer? Maybe we could all use a dose…
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