Trying to Make My Mom and Dad Proud.

The industry I work in is generally regarded as one of the least-trustworthy in the US, and perhaps, the world. Whether that is with good reason can be debated amongst those on the outside who feel slighted by spurious claims made in ads and those on the inside who do honestly make efforts to not mislead anyone. Regardless, each person's perception is indeed their reality, and the collective reality seems to be that very few people trust advertising or offer much regard for the people who work in the industry.

With every day that I come in to the office and every hour I spend working on my portfolio, I'm finding more and more that I may have an ulterior motive for my career: I want to bring some integrity back into this business. It's not going to be easy. I'll probably fail. But I'm going to try, nonetheless.

I think, at least so far in my reflections on the issue, there are two reasons for this goal. 1) My personal integrity is something that I value. It is part of how I define myself as a human being, personally and professionally. That being said, I don't much like working in an industry where my personal integrity is overshadowed by the lack of integrity (or perceived lack of integrity) that most people have. 2) I've talked to a few people, inside the biz and out, and in a sense have been a bit taken aback about how most of them respond. It seems the general consensus about what to do with this lack of integrity in the business is, rather than try to fix it, capitalize on it. Use it to my advantage to fleece people and have fun. Everyone expects me (us) to do it, so why not use that to my advantage and enjoy the freedoms it allows me to take? That, in itself, is part of the reason I so badly want to restore some integrity. In a sense, and to overstep my bounds and make a broad generalization: That kind of thinking is what has landed us with such a shit storm in Washington, DC. Not just with the debt ceiling, but pretty much the last 40 years.

A whole other topic, I know. But there a couple points I'm trying to make: This tolerance of lack of integrity is disconcerting and dangerous. It never leads to anywhere positive. It has led to a sideshow in politics, as well as a bit of hubris in advertising (at least from my limited perspective).

On a more personal level, though, the point of all of this is that, when it boils down to it, I want to be able to go back to my parent's home be able to look them in the eye when I talk about my work, or when a commercial comes on, and not be ashamed, of the quality of the work or the claims being made. It's as simple as that. My parents made a lot of sacrifices to get me to where I am. So, I suppose, aside from my own personal needs, my integrity stems from a desire to not disappoint my folks.

I'm that nervous, shy elementary school kid all over again.