Complete and Utter Devotion…Until Something Else Comes Along

In what has become a Brown-White Family (Read: Baseball fanatics Lenny and Lily’s) tradition, we attended the last regular season/home stand game of the MLB Season. While we have been in the habit of going to these games, today was a little bit more special. Today, all of the Diamondback fans in attendance help bid farewell to Mr. Diamondback himself, Luis Gonzalez.

Gonzo has been the backbone and public face of the Diamondbacks for eight years now. Like many of his baseball contemporaries, he experienced a career renaissance in his mid-30’s, where he achieved and produced to help the D-Backs win three National League Western Division titles. The highlight of his career (and our Arizona fandom) was the game winning hit in the epic 2001 World Series.

While Gonzo’s best years seem to be behind him at age 39, he is widely regarded as a great clubhouse guy and a phenomenal team leader. You can hardly find anyone in Arizona (except maybe for Ken Kendrick) or in major league baseball, who can say ANYTHING bad about Luis Gonzalez. Despite this, Gonzo ended his storied career with the team he helped build today.

As the tributes kept pouring in during the game, I couldn’t help but be a little perturbed. Eight years is a long time to be with a team, but not really. I love Gonzo – but I come from a generation of baseball fans who watched Tony Gwynn play his entire 19-year career with the San Diego Padres. Cal Ripken, Jr. (however mediocre you make think he is) played a record 2,632 games in a row. When players like Ripken and Gwynn retired, there were feted accordingly. But now, we celebrate milestones in shorter spans. More worrisome – no one seems to stay with the same team they started with.

Where’s the love for loyalty?

Loyalty is apparently the new four letter word in our society. Apparently along with dishes and diapers – it is becoming increasingly disposable. Don’t like the class you’re in? Get reassigned to a new teacher. Think you job isn’t paying you enough right now? Find one on Monster or Career Builder that will. Your beloved wife of ten or more years isn’t as fit or pretty as she used to be? Dump her and find a younger model.

Despite the fact that just about every possible marketing venue is pushing “loyalty programs,” it just doesn’t seem to pay to be faithful anymore. We are increasingly a mercenary society where our devotion is sold to the highest bidder. The faster and better we get – the more we think we should have. And if I can’t get it from you – tough cookies.

I have to say that this progression worries the crap out of me. I’ve always been brought up believing that if you dedicate yourself to something worthwhile, you’ll be rewarded in the end. Short-term celebrations and temporary allegiances can’t possible be healthy. I’m all for celebrating achievement, but I think that we really need to redefine what “achievement” actually means. I remember my senior year of high school. I was practically begging my Mom for a class ring. I just really felt like I deserved it – I worked my ass off in those four years (and without a driver’s license or being allowed to socialize like my friends)!!!

But despite my protesting, my Mom didn’t back down. Her reasoning was simple. “You’re just finishing high school. What would the point be? When you finish college, then we’ll talk.” Looking back on it, she was actually right (YES – I just said my mother was right). Graduating high school is NOTHING like the accomplishments I’ve achieved in my life so far. While I don’t have my college degree, my career milestones have been far more satisfying. The class ring? It just would have been a symbol of the end of my childhood. I probably would have lost it. If that hadn’t happened, it would just be in a box somewhere because I would have stopped wearing the moment Lenny started buying me (better) jewelry.

We’ve got to get back on the true loyalty track people. But how? Well, here’s a short list to start:

1. Love Life: Stop knocking on people who’ve been together for years and work on your own damn relationship.

2. Career: Quit bitching about your current level of pay. Impress the hell out of someone and earn the right to negotiate about your job.

3. Sports Teams: Stop changing your freakin’ uniforms every two years! Sheesh…anything that is teal, purple, and copper shouldn’t be considered “retro.”

4. School: No one in counseling/administration likes a “Bouncing Betty.” Just take the class you’re dealt, dammit!

5. Consumerism: Just because they call it a “Loyalty Program” doesn’t mean YOU are receiving the benefits. They’re just suckering you in to buy more.

It’s like the old cliché goes: No man is an island. If we can’t find something or someone to truly care about – we become a shell of a real human being. When that happens, you might as well be the weird neighbor guy with thirty cats.

And believe me – no one really wants to be celebrated for that.