For the past week, a nasty cold sidelined me. It was a virus causing the symptoms of Omicron, but without the fancy title. If I’m not mistaken, there’s no government support for missing work for a cold, but I still had a duty to isolate myself. Somehow, it doesn’t seem fair. But let’s be honest, with fairness, is anything just?
How many of us play fair with the notion of fairness? How often have I considered if something was acceptable when things were going my way? Doesn’t that go against the very concept of impartiality? If I strive for things to be equal across the board, it shouldn’t matter if the scales tip my way or not. What should matter is that we’re all equal. Right?
I struggle with this one. With duties to accommodate, especially in the workplace, I like to see people as individuals having different needs and requiring various compensations. But, unfortunately, many people have accused those who accommodate of showing favouritism and those accommodated as being the favourite. This attitude makes me mad. I strive to better the lives of others as best I can and can’t help it if this means it imposes on others.
And have you ever noticed how it’s often the ones who grumble who are the first to expect preferential treatment when their needs arise? But they’d never admit it. So, for this reason, I turn a deaf ear and concentrate on treating others as thoughtfully as I can. I recognize we are all unique and have needs particular to us that require nurturing.
As I sit here reflecting, I’ve decided that I will continue to give others what I deem they need in as fair a way as I can in my personal and professional life. It won’t all be the same across the board, and others will need to live with it because for every behaviour to be fair, I think people would need to become robotic. This is far from the world I’d like to know. My perfect world is where compassion for people’s personal needs flourishes.
So, is the billboard above accurate—“Life is fair-it’s just a matter of perception?”
I recognize today that when many people speak of fairness, they are speaking on a much grander scale. That’s a much bigger conversation. But first, we must all get on the same page in understanding what the term “fairness” even means to us. As of now, I think we’re all over the map.
I wrote this newsletter while sipping on my favourite morning beverage. I invite you to grab your cup of coffee while you enjoy more of my ramblings. There’s now an audio feature from Medium (under my name), so now you can read these or have them read to you. It’s your choice.
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Until we meet next month, stay well.
Yan, that is a teaching that is unfortunate, but at least it does lead people to not view life through rose- coloured glasses. I've never met a person who feels life is fair. It's sad.
I thought about fairness when I was 14. It bugged me and I shared this with my Mandarin teacher.
She said this, " (There's) No fairness in life. Look at where our heart is placed when we are born. It's lean to one side. In Chinese, biased = 偏心, literally means heart-leaning-to-one-side."
That sealed the fate for me regarding fairness. I grew up then accepting that life is not going to be fair, BUT it doesn't stop me from doing what is "morally" and "ethically" right, to the best I can!.