How to get an ‘A’ in real life.

People really care about ‘doing the right thing’ in school, because the consequences are clear: good or bad grades!

If we got grades in real life, things would be different. There would be more accountability for our actions, by far.

In school, letter grades were key motivating factors to study for exams and do well. They are a way in which students can feel immediate reward for learning, since schools have yet to provide money for those who get an A (other than grants and scholarships of course, which tend not to be immediate).

I always wondered what life would be like if people got grades in general day-to-day life. I think that if we truly could get an ‘A’ in real life, there would be extra incentive for doing great things. 

The more ‘good’ you do like volunteering or even simple acts of kindness, the more points you would obtain. Likewise, every time you are mean to strangers, do something unarguably unethical (cheat on your spouse or even cheat in business), or do things that are negative to the world you lose points. It sounds like a science fiction story, but it does seem interesting doesn‘t it?

The other day I was interacting with a lady who was very mean to me, and I am not sure why. I was trying to explain something to her and she just kept firing accusations that I was treating her like she was stupid, which I pleasantly denied and again, tried to convey useful information to her about her mom’s cable company account. Well she wouldn’t listen to me at all, and I just said, “Have a nice day!” She replied, “You don’t!”

That lady should have lost some points. 

Be Accountable in Life.

Just as we are accountable in school (grades) and in business (performance reviews or quarterly reports) we should be in life, even though we never will be, unless there is some Big Brother thing in the sky keeping it together.

Some restaurants may now post the caloric information of the food in terms of how long it takes to burn it off. This is fascinating because if we knew even roughly how long it would take to burn off a Big Mac, we might think twice about ordering one the next time we are in the drive thru. It adds a little but more accountability to the healthy vs. unhealthy food game.

We all know most fast food is processed and bad for us, and yet it doesn’t seem to matter. You know how in Canada they show pictures of black lungs or use very direct warnings on packages of cigarettes to deter people from smoking? Maybe in America they should show pictures of morbidly obese people next to the menus at the fast food restaurants. If we have to look at the blotchy, bulging and hanging gut of Joe Shmo before we get to the order placing area, maybe we would be tempted to get something else instead of the bacon cheeseburger? This could also be good for increasing jobs. Models with blotchy, hanging guts would get work in the restaurant business because it would be mandated from the surgeon general to provide photographic evidence of what may happen upon consumption of the foods served at that dining establishment. You already see those commercials for anti-smoking in which some woman (or man) who had a tracheotomy talks about why smoking is bad for you. You don’t even hear what the person is saying; you just stare at the hole in their throat which is how they are able to breathe now. As much as I would not want to see the hanging gut of Joe Schmo, I would rather see that then those tracheotomy commercials (which I can’t even look at when they come on the television).

If not with images, they could at least use harsher rhetoric on the menus, like instead of healthy options and regular options, maybe have it read healthy options and then not-so-healthy options. Or take it one step further and just tell it like it is with these alternatives that I prefer:

Healthy options versus fat bastard options

Lighter menu section versus I can’t see my groin anymore menu section

Rarely visit the hospital when I reach a certain age section versus we hope you have a good HMO section

Have to work out for twenty minutes a day section versus have to work out for two hours a day section

Feel great after I eat section versus feel like death after I eat section

Have an easier time finding a significant other section versus good luck with finding dates on craigslist section

My point:

While we have to establish a norm so that businesses can still serve these foods without it being embarrassing, there should be some level of visual reminder either as image or in text that would encourage us to eat foods rich in nutrients and discourage the processed crap that even organisms like mold won’t even consume. Yes that’s right, I saw on one of those health TV shows where some guy saved a fast food restaurant burger for like ten years that still didn’t have any mold on it—meaning there were so many preservatives in it you can only wonder what it would do inside a human body. Perhaps that should be the TV commercial: (show the 10 year old burger) If it’s not good enough for mold, it’s not good enough for us. Eat healthy, America! (fade to black)

The bottom line is that just saying, “That is not good for you” does nothing for accountability. We need to more clearly see the consequences to our food decisions. I think a compelling movie would be one where it shows a world where there is no junk food. Maybe a nation that has never heard of such foods and then when a different country tries to introduce these foods, the nation responds, “Why would you eat this stuff? Are you serious?” Yes, I know what you’re thinking: Now THAT would be science fiction.