This Thanksgiving, I want to present James-Michael Johnson with my ethical good guy award. Even if you don’t get to read this post until next July, please remember James-Michael Johnson, because he is what Thanksgiving should be about.
Mr. Johnson is a linebacker who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. He is in his second year as a professional football player. While he is not a superstar, I will assume that as a professional football player, he makes a decent enough living. However, as a man trying to keep his job, I am sure he also has many worries. The NFL is not a forgiving place. In a sport where one injury or even one promising rookie waiting to take your job can knock you out of the game, existence is always somewhat tentative.
This former football product of the University of Nevada grew up near Fairfield, California. Fairfield is about 40 miles from San Francisco and a million miles away in terms of big salaries and fancy row houses. Fairfield is a working class town with a low median income. There is unemployment and homelessness and that sometimes leads to despair.
Mission Solano is a homeless shelter in Fairfield, and this Thanksgiving the shelter made plans to buy 1,000 frozen turkeys and to deliver them to the homeless in the area. They had gotten to the point where they had already collected about 300 turkeys when one morning it was discovered that the turkeys were stolen.
Money for good or evil
It is no great secret why someone would steal frozen turkeys from a homeless shelter. Several months ago, I reported on an employee stealing jewelry from Tiffany’s and before that, stories of insider trading at brokerages and real estate fraud where people of ill-will misrepresented properties to their clients. Greed does not discriminate between rich and poor or “blue collar” versus “white collar.”
If we snicker at the stupidity of a desperate person stealing frozen turkeys from a homeless shelter, what is the appropriate response to a jewelry designer stealing semi-precious gems and gold necklaces from her upscale employer? How about that case of the successful New York City surgeon who stole miniature works of art from upscale Park and Madison Avenue art galleries? Ethically, it is all the same. Ethically the person who may be so down and out so as to steal turkeys is virtually identical in intent to the broker who misrepresents a piece of real estate to an unsuspecting client.
The true difference is in our response.
How do we react to ethical missteps in our midst?
James-Michael Johnson heard about the theft of the turkeys in the same way as most everyone else. The theft was reported on television, radio and the internet. Mr. Johnson stepped up and bought 300 turkeys for the mission to replace those that were stolen. He told reporters that he did so because he was in a financial position to do so. But I think more is in play.
He used his wealth and his “power” for good. He understood the incredible luck between those of us who “have,” and those of us who don’t. I don’t know Mr. Johnson’s family, but I imagine they are good, decent and caring people. They sure did a great job in raising him.
I have heard that people at the Mission Solano Homeless Shelter will be wearing Kansas City Chiefs jerseys this Thanksgiving. I hope James-Michael Johnson will be wearing a big smile. He taught many of us a huge secret that a great many of us have forgotten between Black Friday and Cyber Monday: the meaning of Thanksgiving.
I do know the Johnson family, James Michael’s dad and mom are very hardworking people who have been bless to be able to lead all of their kids to be educated and help others. I am very proud of the Johnson family’s accomplishments. Go JMJ!