Tomorrow Belongs to Me

Performed by Rockford Auburn High School CAPA's presentation of Cabaret

     Tomorrow belongs to me. It belongs to you and to everyone else who is living today and bears the good health and fortune to continue living another day.  Tomorrow even belongs to those who won't be with us when night passes for today lives in their hearts nourished by the anticipation that another day must be better than this one.  With the knowledge that yesterday can not be redone and the hope that what we imagine is a better life could possibly arrive tomorrow, we lay claim to that near and dear future with a certainty that betrays the fragility of our existence.

     Today we live with the tools we've picked up and mastered to create the best, happiest, most satisfying versions of ourselves, and we likely try to shape our circumstances and the people who are a part of our lives in such a way that the better, brighter tomorrow comes.  We use many good tools like healthy eating and exercise habits; we plan ahead and try to use our resources wisely; we are kind, encouraging, helpful and we share from our store of attention, skills and treasure.  We welcome the opportunity to improve our chances at making the best possible tomorrow and hope that everyone else is doing likewise.  We also use many destructive tools, and to be clear not all destructive tools are bad.  Sledge hammers and wrecking balls are enormously destructive, but they also help us efficiently remove obstacles which are no longer safe or useful or prevent something better from existing.  The destructive tools we use to secure a better tomorrow tend to also demolish the potential for any worthwhile future for those who do not share the specific ideals to create the new day we have in our minds.

     We use tools like fear, doubt, anger, hatred, uncertainty, selfishness, ambition, secrecy, influence, isolation and stubbornness to insulate and incubate our efforts to create a better tomorrow.  Why shouldn't we make use of these and all tools at our disposal?  Tomorrow belongs to us.  The reason we shouldn't use these destructive tools is that when tomorrow comes it's just as likely to find us on the receiving end of someone wielding their tools against us.  As we have carved out our today by finding the best possible place to live, work, study, play, worship...live even if it means we have separated ourselves from those we think are undesirable, lazy, violent, different, dirty or poor, we could just as likely find ourselves perceived the same way by someone else more powerful than ourselves. There's no doubt that more powerful, influential, ambitious, stubborn, angry, hateful and manipulative people exist, and to deny their presence reflects a willful misunderstanding of the world.

     The video at the top of the page shows a song from the musical Cabaret being performed at Auburn High School's CAPA theater program.  The song is titled Tomorrow Belongs to Me and it's begun by my beautiful and talented daughter Mary.  The melody and lyrics hauntingly betray the hopeful and even cheerful suggestion in the song's title.  The reality that the singer's tomorrows are being shaped by the destructive tools wielded by the emerging Nazi party could easily be the anthem for so many groups today who find themselves on the business end of the wrecking ball.  Whether it's refugees fleeing poverty, oppressive regimes or a corrupt and violent force causing social dysfunction, or it's an underemployed group of people who can't make enough money to purchase affordable health care, or young people of color dying by the hands of brazen authority who've lost the will to serve and protect, their voices will gather to meet the storm that awaits them.

Working in a Camera Store is not a Job

The LinkedIn reminder of my 15 year work anniversary somewhat unexpectedly brought to mind a quick survey of my time at Camera Craft that left me feeling a strange mix of emotions encapsulated by a story told by the proprietor of another camera store.  He tells of a time when his son’s class was taking turns saying what each of their fathers did at his job.  When this kid’s turn came up he said his dad didn’t have a job; he works in a camera store.  Most days I vacillate between the extremes what such a statement might mean.  As the story was told to me the the kid was taking a cynical dig at his dad whose store was located in a mall.  On the other hand the kid’s statement makes me think of the proverb suggesting that when a person finds a job he loves he’ll never work another day.  Neither of those positions accurately describes my daily view of going to work, but certainly I appreciate both sentiments.  

There are days when pulling into the parking lot I am struck by the impulse to go hunting for a “big boy” job that doesn’t involve ringing a cash register or working in a mall.  There are many more days when I meet fascinating people who are willing to share with me a narrative of how imaging needs have brought them to the store.  Whether they need an old family photo reproduced, troubleshooting camera problems, trying to learn a photographic technique or are in search of some appropriate delineation amongst a wide choice of products, people are giving a glimpse of something very personal about themselves.  Indeed they are revealing a fundamental element of our anthropology that’s as primal as our control of fire or our need to honor the dead.  Within these glimpses of people’s connections to imaging there lay an opportunity to make a connection with them.  Making that connection is a very personal experience that when an image is successfully restored and reproduced, a problem is solved, a new understanding of photography is learned or a new tool is acquired to help capture a better image people have been very generous with sharing how important imaging is to them.

I do not mean to suggest that my work is on the same level as that done by a lawyer, a physician, a consultant, a therapist, a cleric or a teacher. Nevertheless there’s a need to try being as professional as those who do such jobs.  And I wouldn’t suggest that everyday is filled with one pulse quickening, personal interaction after another culminating in some enlightened understanding of human nature.  That would be no more true than saying the job lacks any shred of fulfillment or satisfaction.   The reality is the bulk of the days are filled with common and fleeting exchanges with people, and the truth is these exchanges are supposed to culminate with some sort of financial transaction.

While having to pry into a customer’s wallet, carefully search for the best buying opportunities and look for a better way to do something in the hopes of improving the bottom line is the point of any business, even these provide an opportunity to exercise kindness and patience; offer some encouragement or good humor; relieve someone of their frustration, or provide a satisfying imaging experience. In an ideal workplace customers, vendors, other retailers and employees would all work together generously to ensure there’s always that great experience.  Unfortunately the mark is missed more times than I care to consider.  No one is perfect and when a job requires working with so many different people it’s impossible to create a predictable, controllable and perfect environment.

Without trying to make my job  (which does indeed involve working in a mall and ringing a cash register) sound more profound than it is, I have to say that the last 15 years, and 5 of the previous 7 when I also worked at Camera Craft, have been richly filled with unforgettable experiences and opportunities to meet the most fascinating people.  They have taught me many things about doing my job better.  When I started working at Camera Craft I knew nothing about photography or photo specialty retail.  All I really had were a few people skills my parents taught me by their great examples of treating people with kindness and patience, listening and responding with honesty, encouragement and good humor, being problem solvers and regarding those we don’t know or may not even particularly like as generously and graciously as possible.  They are much better at these virtues than I am or likely ever will be.  However I can’t let this occasion go by without saying to all those co-workers, customers, vendors, other retailers in the industry and my family  thank you for helping me understand that working in a camera store, or anywhere for that matter, doesn’t have to be a job.