Professionalism & Friendships

An Odd Couple?

This is probably my favorite topic … but … it took the heck … to get here. I suppose the two issues … would naturally create a sense of opposites … and the best that anybody would do … is to moderate the other side … into a greater similarity. However I expect that the difference … would remain. Someone subscribed to the ethos of friendship … is always bound to feel amiss … in communication … with a professional.

Medical practitioners make the greatest professionals … in relation to friendships. There you are in the doctor's clinic … he's examined you … and he brings an opinion about your medical condition … in words that shares your concern … and yet is textbook clear about what he can or cannot do. ' So what do you recommend I do … doc?' And the reply encapsulates the difference between the two … ' There's on-going research in these areas … and we hope for a breakthrough.'

Did you hear this one? St. Peter and the Pope are having a meeting in heaven. St. Peter : ' Boil them in oil … sir … there's no other way … down there!' Pope : But Monsignor … a man who did a mistake … displays ignorance. Are we punishing the act or the ignorance?' St. Peter : ' So you suggest that we teach him first … then boil him in oil?' Pope : ' He'll understand why he developed a boil.' The church … it appears … might be a professional.

But what do we learn about friendships in life? Do we find … in an ultimate sense … that our society … civil laws … governments … and survival itself … insists on a specific imperative in all our actions. That we should display a friendship … in all matters. Such a state would naturally … create the professional with regards to these matters. Hence … we evolve the professional … who performs dutifully … the act of friendship … his entire life.

Vulcan : I am a foreign visitor … take me to your leader.

Man : You must mean our president. I dunno … if I can do that … you'll need to make an

        appointment first.

Vulcan : That's not being friendly …

Man : You're saying that our president is your friend?

Vulcan : He's not?

Man : Well … a friend is someone you have come to know … and you find a trust in the

         relations.

Vulcan : Well … there you go … how can I be his friend … if he doesn't want to see me?

In Kazuo Ishiguro's book … ' The remains of the day ' … an American ambassador blasts the English for … under estimating the Hitler threat … and accuses them of not understanding reality. It would appear that the English … are a friendly lot … and extend that attitude to everything they come across. After the war … the American comes to stay … in the mansion … in which he blasted them … at dinner. Obviously … his choice of place to stay … selects friendship … as a basis … otherwise the mansion would have reeked of an ' ignorance regarding reality.'

In the colonial practice … the British … were obviously professionals. Locals here … continue to refer to how … they would constantly point to the law … a protocol … ethics … a convention … or simply good form … in their decision making. In accordance to such a view … its my impression … that the American experience … suggested by Kazuo … proposes a greater professionalism … and by implication … a greater friendship … in their outlook.

The locals here refer to friendship as …' saperti isi dan kuku ' ... translated as  ' like the flesh and the nail.' Obviously we clip one … from time to time … to prevent it growing too long … but they depend on each other … to function. No doubt the one … who gets clipped regularly … epitomizes friendship … and together with the bones … realizes that he's holding up the professional … who clips him. As for his part … the professional is likely to remind always … ' we're in this together.'

Its interesting to note the two aspects … in connection with … the relationship of an Ammon and Ra … in the early civilization of man. Ra … as the quintessential … mind of mercury … acts professionally … while Ammon as the friend and host … provides the support. Our same-sex laws … seek to protect Ammon … as the supporter … in the friendship … between the two … and must be viewed … with some gravity … as an important legislation … in social engagements. Ra … the professional … is expected to agree to it … as an initiative by a friend.

The issue encapsulates … our growing pre-occupations … with justice … and the equitable nature of life. At which point do the passions … arising from the friend … stop being conducive to a … viable professional conduct. A friend would look … for guide on the matter … from the professional … and no doubt … the professional would need to supply a fair response to the issue. It is a mutually beneficial matter.

Accordingly … the professional is assigned the role … of designing … planning … and supervising the relations … and creates an anticipation for the friend's needs. In a ' breakzone ' … the professional should take responsibility for the break … and assign himself to repair it. And thereafter to communicate it … to the one... who considers him friend. It would be a fair reflection of the direction in our lives … whether we have chosen to split or re-unite.