Exercise your Rights

These last couple of weeks have brought a few key wide reaching issues to the forefront: How Transparent is Transparency? It's Time to Rock the Vote! and People Will Burn Anything for Publicity

In light of the actual events surrounding these topics (SQLPASS Board Nominations, SQLPASS Board Election, and that moron in FL who wants to burn a pile of holy tomes) it really got me thinking. We, as Americans, have really fallen into a mode of complacency. As long as things are 'good enough' and events unfold the way we expect them to, then really, why should any one individual ever stand up and rock the boat? Our not-so-distant relatives fought very, very hard to groom our American culture into what they envisioned would be Easier Times for future generations. Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe they succeeded! And with that success, we have enjoyed kicking back and taking a load off in their honor. What we have not accomplished, sadly, is making sure the system keeps working for us.

Putting this in terms of technology, let's say you have your current system running at optimum levels and sailing along on a daily basis without a hitch. The processes are tried and true, the schedules kicking off exactly and precisely as they are supposed to, and everything is just hunky dory. The longer this period lasts, the easier it becomes to have a false sense of confidence in the system. Small changes start to add up, but you don't really see their effects right away. It's only after an accumulation of updates and minor changes that you may start to notice an issue with a particular facet of the system, maybe performance. The typical American (bear with me on this one) at this point would say "yeah, it's a little slower, but it's still working, so nothing to worry about". Now let this continue to compound over the next several months - or years, even - and HOLY MOLEY! What happened to my system? It was working so well...and now it's even more onerous a task to make it right than it would have been if only you had maintained it in the first place.

So, going back to other side of my analogy, why did we let our government get so out of control? And I'm talking here about the American Government. It doesn't matter if you're Democrat, Republican, Green, Tea, or Dolphin party. Our country was founded on a premise of By the People, For the People. Why then, don't people who complain about health care, foreign policy and a bevy of other issues, go out and make their voices heard? If you feel that you don't have time or energy or a 'say' in anything that goes on in government, you are flat out wrong. It's everyone's duty to make their say heard. It can start with simple things like voting. You don't have to run for office, but you can put your best effort forward and actually go to the polls (or send in one via mail or online in some cases - absentee) and make a Choice. Cast your Vote.

As SQL Server professionals, we also have a way of making our needs and wants heard. It has been wonderful to see people acting passionately about our community. I wish we had that same care about our country. If you haven't voted in the SQLPASS Election yet, please make sure to do so.

So, to end my rant (thanks for tagging along) I want to tell that so-called Church in Florida to STFU. Do you have the right to burn books? Sure. Do you have the right to tell someone else that their religion is less than yours by burning their holy book? No, that just makes you a bully. Now take *your* book and go read it - obviously you haven't done that yet.