Reflections

Now More Than Ever, Treat People with Kindness & Work to Be Better

by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com

It’s election day as I write this and while you read this, you’re either still cheering or licking your wounds. But right now, many I know are thinking about how we’ll be happy that this election cycle will be over soon. (Or will it even be over when you’re reading this column in December? I doubt it very much.)

The divisions in the U.S. on so many levels will not be healed overnight, if ever. We have this amazing freedom and democracy that has endured for 240 years. For perspective, the Ming Dynasty lasted 276 years so hopefully we can hold it together a lot longer than that!

Many of you are business owners –– entrepreneurs in a difficult industry. Most of the rest are employees who earn money working in our industry and are dedicated to their families and to the companies they work for. If you’re either, you know these last 10 years or so have not been easy and we have pulled and pushed ourselves to go further and do better. One thing I know for sure, the people in our industry always do their best and are truly wonderful people.

It’s cliché, but as one door closes, another one opens. So, too, with the election. The deep divide and hurt feelings will manifest themselves into different movements. Hopefully, it won’t turn into yet more roadblocks and gridlock, which doesn’t help any cause of progress for the American people or for the people of the world.

I’ve said it many times: Everything starts with us as individuals. In our daily lives, we have the power to make a difference, to treat people fairly and with kindness. The world is a rough place and we need to make difficult decisions now and then. America cannot always be the “policeman of the world.” Charity does begin at home and whoever is elected has a huge challenge to help keep the American Dream possible for millions of people.

There is a lot of healing that will be needed after this rough election. As for me, I don’t post anything political on my FaceBook account, but so many do. Some friends posted so much and so often that I selected the “hide posts” option for a while so I could stop seeing so much of it while still being able to remain friends. (What a wonderful option.)

In the real world, we interact with everyone and need to get along. It’s hard to put someone on “ignore” when they’re standing in front of you! Think about the words you use and the intent of your message. With the holidays and a new year coming, we can all do more to be better.

Holiday blessings to you and your family.

Jack Guarnieri started servicing electro-mechanical pinball machines in 1975 and has been involved in every phase of the amusement game business since then. He was an operator in NYC, then began a distributorship in 1999, PinballSales.com, selling coin-op to the consumer market. In January of 2011 he founded Jersey Jack Pinball (named after his RePlay Magazine pen name), which builds award-winning, full-featured, coin-op pinball machines. Email Jack at jack@ jerseyjackpinball.com.