Outsourcing: What a Wonderful World

As trends and fads come and go, it seems cynicism has stuck with us for quite some time. For some reason it makes us feel in control, unaffected by all that goes on around us, no matter how big, or how great. It’s a comfortable and powerful feeling to sit back with arms crossed and say, “give me all you’ve got, present me with all your greatest efforts, do all you can to impress me, and I will dismiss you with a word.”

Let me give a case in point. I recently saw a tidbit in a popular magazine telling of McDonald’s Restaurant’s plans to outsource order taking to improve speed and efficiency. The last line read something like, “because two minutes is too long for Americans to wait for their food.”

I could be reading into this, but the feeling I got from that line was, "yeah, it’s just another money hungry corporation exploiting lazy, impatient Americans. Nothing new here. The world is so predictably trite."

Or is it? Who would’ve ever thought that you could go to a restaurant in Georgia and talk to a person in New Mexico, or Denmark, and a minute later pay a person back in Georgia for some hot food? Who’d have known this idea may save everyone time and money, and allow this business to stay successful, and people to better enjoy the act of eating? Who’s the creative mastermind that thought to test such a crazy hypothesis? Humanity is so unpredictable! It’s amazing what the mind can come up with from a little incentive!

You're probably thinking it's just another move motivated by money.

Why do people want more money anyway? The same reason this idea may catch on - because saving money and time gives people more freedom to do what they want. Because mankind is not satisfied filling up his day with hunting, gathering, and preparing food just so he can have energy to wake up the next day and do it again. Because I just might eat at the place I know will get me my food quickly, so I can spend a few more moments at home. Maybe there's something here beyond mere greed?

The tendency is to dismiss new ideas (particularly when they seek to make a profit) and continue wondering why the world is so corrupt. I don't believe that this idea is corrupt, or sad. It’s a testament to the amazing creative power of the human mind! It’s a tiny picture of all the brilliance in the universe, and how untapped it all is! We think of the unthinkable, the ridiculous, just so we can have ten more minutes home with the kids, doing something we really want to do.

All of us would like to think that we are a little wild, a little risky, open minded, unique. Yet if we get our kicks from idly agreeing with the cynics that what’s happening in the world is all just lame, boring, crooked, and more of the same; we are creating the lowest risk environment possible for ourselves. Truth is, we often don’t want surprises, we don’t want new fresh things. They scare us. If we're impressed, we're impressionable. If impressionable, we’re somebody’s fool. We want to be unimpressed by everything, except our own clever ability to describe how unimpressive things are. I hope I’m not sounding too cynical.

Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that there's no place for criticisms or unfavorable opinions. It's just to say that maybe we should look closer before succumbing to our often cynical gut reactions. Maybe we should first seek the beauty; at least try to see the image of a marvelous God, in the things we encounter before dismissing them. Try it, and you may find that much of this world, and many of man's ideas, including high tech burger-ordering, can be more awe-inspiring that a song or a sunset.

The next time I order a Big Mac I’ll approvingly think to myself, what a wonderful world.