Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues is a great movie. It’s got a little bit of everything, action, romance, humor, tragedy.
Biloxi Blues also has one of the best motivational quotes I’ve ever heard. When I first heard it, I thought…Wow! He’s absolutely right. I wonder if other viewers are as taken with it as I am.
This particular scene happens when the geeky character Epstein takes the blame for something he didn’t do. The sergeant is questioning the platoon on who stole some money and Epstein stepped forward.
Matthew Broderick plays Jerome and asks Epstein why he’d take the blame for something he didn’t do. “We’re both Jews, but I don’t understand you at all…” Jerome pleads.
Epstein calmly replies:
“You’re a witness. You’re always standing around watching what’s happening. You’re scribbling in your book what other people do. You have to get in the middle of it. You have to take sides. Make a contribution to the fight.”
Can you see the sheer brilliance of that statement?
I must have first heard it 20 years ago, but even today, I get shivers at that point of the movie.
That statement sums up what the majority of people do vs. the tiny few who make a difference.
Think about it. We’ve got witnesses everywhere. Everyone looking for an opportunity to say “it’s not my job.” Or “it’s none of my business.” We gossip about who is doing what, meanwhile trying to keep our heads down as not to be noticed for fear we’ll be criticized, attacked or even fired for expressing our opinions or taking a stand.
It’s interesting, but while we are fearing this from higher ups, they too are fearing the same thing. They often fear that by agreeing with you that yes, this is an injustice, they too will be attacked, criticized or fired.
Have you ever gone to a manager with a legitimate complaint like one of the coworkers is slacking off, stealing, or using the broom closet as a makeout room and the manager says “We’ll look into it.” But then nothing ever happens? That is that same fear, the fear of making waves — the fear of taking sides and having to deal with the consequences.
I’ll never forget when I was working my way through college, I loaded hardware trucks for a living. It was heavy, sweaty and demanding work that paid just above minimum wage.
But I considered myself lucky. Many of the other men there were my age, but had dropped out of high school to take care of their families – i.e. they started having kids at 17-18 years old. I knew that although this was crappy work now, things would be better in time. I am afraid many of my coworkers’ futures weren’t so bright.
There was one guy who worked there. He looked like a kid trying to be a 1980′s “hair rocker”. He wore an AC/DC tee shirt every day which was likely the reason for his nickname – they called him AC/DC. Everyone hated him. If we were in the military, they’d call him a “Class-A F*ck Up.”
When AC/DC was around, everyone’s work became more difficult.
He would walk from one area of the plant to another, just leisurely strolling around, chatting with other people. His job was to load trucks like the rest of us, but I don’t remember seeing him ever putting anything heavier than a mailbox kit on a truck. Instead, he would wander the plant, drinking Cokes, chatting, and interrupting others as they worked.
I didn’t like the guy because he was lazy and obnoxious, so I just focused on memorizing my class notes as I loaded 75lb boxes of nails and screws onto “my trucks”.
But one day, one of the burly guys had had enough. He cornered lazy AC/DC in my section. He had backed him into one of the trailers where there was no escape. Remember, AC/DC was a scrawny weakling. The guy backing him up was a big, surly dock worker. Like everyone else, he moved tons worth of hardware each and every day in the blistering heat. He wasn’t the type you wanted to screw with.
But this day, he had AC/DC backed in a corner and was ready to do some damage.
I remember AC/DC saying “Why are you wanting to hurt ME?”
To which he said “You don’t do any work, you make everyone else work harder.”
But then the kid said something that left everyone scratching their heads. “That’s not my fault! Rick and Tom (the managers) are supposed to make me do work. They don’t. They don’t even ask me to work anymore. They leave me alone. So until they do their jobs by making me work, why should I, you or anyone else here do work? …..If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at Rick and Tom!”
You might expect that he still beat him to a pulp, or that he kicked him into the next century. But none of that happened. Everyone went back to work, except for AC/DC. He went about his merry way eating sandwiches, drinking cokes and making an ass of himself.
Reflecting on this incident, it’s easy for me to see the sheer power of taking sides. This kid chose a side. He chose to get paid to do nothing. While the managers chose not to take sides.
Taking sides does require bravery. Since most people are only witnesses, a side taker stands out and makes news. People talk about the ones who take sides and stand for something. So when you pick a side, make sure it is consistent with your own personal principles so you can defend it.
As ridiculous as AC/DC’s side was, it still exposed him to ridicule, criticism and potential physical harm. But in the end, he did get what he wanted. He got to be lazy, do nothing and get paid for it. The managers who didn’t choose sides ended up with decreased productivity, increased employee costs and an “unsolvable problem.”
Power was in the hands of the person who picked a side.
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{ 1 comment }
I liked the story. Thanks. I remember one occasion I didn’t take a side. But by no means it was lack of courage. It happened many years ago and I was considered as null as the girl who was offended. I just learnt a lot about omission and left the group.