“And when we draw lines in the sand with regard to certain basic things that are vital to our interest and to the interest of democracy and our friends around the world, we have to be willing to back that up” –Fred Thompson

“We have …drawn a line in the sand.” –George H. W. Bush

“Everybody’s life is either a warning or an example. You’ve got to decide what you’re gonna be and you have to draw a line in the sand.” –Tony Robbins

The line. The magical line we draw (figuratively) in the sand and dare someone to step over. We all say it and turns out to be a popular expression as you can see in the quotes above. What is your line in the sand? Are your one or two lines in the sand something that you stand firm on, no matter what the consequences of your decision or after being shunned, ignored or threatened with being ostracized do you buckle and compromise erasing your line. How often do you change your stance, compromise and when you do, is it because you thought it through on your own weighing good information or did someone push you to thinking their way there by compromise your beliefs? When you constantly move your line in the sand it is hard to be taken seriously and the flip flopping doesn’t help your credibility as a leader.

When it comes to moving that line you made in the sand, how far are you willing to bend the years of work your parents invested to give you a proper upbringing. Are you willing to trash it all along with your morals to obtain a specific goal and is the size of your indiscretion in direct correlation with the amount of money you can take or the amount of power you can gain? Once you compromise your morals the rewards make it so easy to keep the cycle going, making excuses to continually justify your actions. My favorite is, “everyone else is doing it” “They don’t even miss it” or “They don’t appreciate us enough”. Now drunk with your new power of moving your line at will to suit your needs you’ve pushed your lines so far out of whack you are NOW compromised so when the test of loyalty from your new buddies comes and you are asked to lie to an EPA inspector so how can you suddenly put a line in the sand?

A very old piece of equipment was restored and brought back for use once the company discovered there was a market for the product it produced. The problem was the amount of dust it produced, no matter how much it was tinkered with, still exceeded the limits of dust allowed to be put into the environment. The local town and many of its residents filed complaints which led to a pending visit from the EPA to personally inspect the equipment. Simultaneously a very large order from a prominent food market chain for this product was also pending, so where was the line in the sand drawn by the company? They lied. When the inspector arrived they decided to tell her to her face the machine was not working, they didn’t know when it would be in operational again since the repairs were going to be extensive so we’re not using it. She left and would return when they told her the machine was repaired and going to be used. As soon as she left the premises, swing shift was told to prepare the machine for operation so graveyard shift could run it to fulfill the order and in the morning it’ll be shut down. What’s a little dust in the night sky since bonuses and profits are more important than breathing.

There is nothing wrong with drawing a line in the sand as long as the line doesn’t take advantage of others who don’t look or sound similar just to line their own pockets or obtain power just to use it to abuse others for the sake of power. Working together can accomplish so much more. We are in this crazy concept of life together while standing on a spinning orb hurtling through space.

Meanwhile in honorable corporate America — FirstEnergy fires CEO, 2 other top #executives in wake of $61M political bribery scandal https://buff.ly/2HGhjWZ They along with four lobbyist thought public funds should be used at their discretion.

Gee, I wonder how deep the roots of corruption go? — Facing credit downgrades after the firing CEO FirstEnergy board launches further internal investigation https://buff.ly/2JpV47U

Here’s another utility company that has decided to take after their mentor, PG&E — UGI will pay $1.1 million fine in 2017 FATAL gas explosion that leveled a house https://buff.ly/35Tlu9E Just like PG&E they failed to properly react to a hazardous situation when its workers responded to. report of a gas leak including not following their own written procedures which it turns out were deficient. In case you weren’t sure killing customers and employees is not a good move for any company. It’s not sustainable.

OSHA is investigating Table Talk Pies over workplace safety concerns https://buff.ly/3nKoqNt Valid concerns as they have been fined many times for a total of $400,000 in the last three years for safety violations. Because of their line in the sand they have wasted money on fines (may have been budgeted as part of doing business) instead of reinvesting in their employees. Don’t understand such waste.

During Pandemic, It’s All Tricks and No Treats for Mars Wrigley Workers Their line in the sand was to deny their employees protection so they could keep safely working so the company could make money. Apparently protecting workers from Covid19 was not in their plans as they fired people for asking. Why would anyone want to work for a company who couldn’t care less about you. Might as well go work for Amazon. Oh, wait!

Thanks for stopping by. If you have a line in the sand when it comes to safety at the workplace, never keep quiet but speak up for the life you save may be your own. You are an intelligent human being who took in all the facts about safety, PPE and equipment and decided it is not worth dying to save the boss a few bucks. You can make an anonymous call to the OSHA HOTLINE – 1 – 800 – 321- OSHA (6742) or your state OSHA. Politics has no place in workplace safety, we ALL deserve a safe workplace. Until next time, please stay socially distant, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay safe.