Bob Haase Another Can Of Worms

What’s In It For Me?

I can’t remember when it started, but a number of years ago I started hearing people ask “What’s In It For Me?”.   Before that time we did things because it was the right thing to do.  Sometimes we didn’t benefit directly from it, but others did.  I think we benefited from it but didn’t even realize it.  When you do things for others it usually gives you a good feeling that often carries over into positive attitudes in everything you do.

Up until that time there seemed to be more people joining clubs and organizations that did things together for the betterment of others.   It might be civic organizations that performed community service projects, sportsman’s clubs that worked on hunting, fishing, and environmental projects, or a variety of other clubs that made major contributions to our country.  The members of these clubs did not ask “what’s in it for me?”, they asked “what can we do to help?”.

People that serve or have served in our military probably did not ask “what’s in it for me” because they usually gave a lot more than they received.  Many of them gave their lives and spent a lot of time away from their families.  They served to help others and protect our freedoms and we owe them a lot of gratitude for doing so.

I think the phrase “what’s in it for me” has even been detrimental to married couples and families because rather than thinking about and doing things for their spouse or family members they are now asking “what’s in it for me”.  How can you have a caring relationship when you are thinking of yourself instead of others? 

Even in politics we have our elected representatives that are supposed to be representing us asking the question “what’s in it for me?” or “what’s in it for our party?”.   They no longer represent us but rather the people and corporations that gave them the most money for their campaign.  

Everywhere you look today you can find problems that didn’t exist or were not as bad as they are today and I think that phrase “what’s in it for me” is part of the underlying problem.   Let’s turn things around and stop asking “what’s it in for me” and start asking “am I doing the right thing for others and our county”.  

Bob Haase is the host of “Outdoors Thursday” heard Thursday mornings at 9:10 a.m. on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ.