Seeing (Carolina) Blue

I’m actually visiting a “red” state but was seeing blue as I visited the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this week. The blue that I saw was all the athletic paraphernalia that the students were proudly wearing as they walked the footpaths from class to class. This week we’re visiting our old stumping grounds of about 26 years which we happened to have left exactly a year ago. The weather was just pleasant with a cool breeze reminding us that autumn is just around the corner. Not currently owning any jackets or sweaters, it felt actually cold when we returned to Chapel Hill in the evening to have dinner with friends at the Spice Street Restaurant.

The highlight of my visit this time has been visiting with all the friends and family in the area. Coming from Miami where our network is just so limited, the Research Triangle area is just brimming with contacts from all the years we lived here. Even as I walked through campus on Tuesday, I saw an old acquaintance from my Glaxo days. Something like that would probably never happen to me in a city the size of Miami.

I also took the opportunity to visit some of my ex-colleagues at the old mothership (GlaxoSmithKline). The company has decimated its research staff in the last couple of years and the few scientists that are holding the fort didn’t give me the feeling that they were thrilled to have survived thus far. I met with three different groups, and you could boil down the conversations to a feeling of “fear and uncertainty”. The ones that had already been let go from the company recently were worried about what to do next (‘been there, done that), and worried about competing with so many other scientists in the area that are searching for the few available jobs. The ones employed, were worried about when it’d be their turn to be on the streets or whether they would survive yet another cut. It definitely does not make for a jolly old time as they wait for someone else to determine their fate.

As I met with them I tried to steer the conversations to their family or other lighter topics. I didn’t want to have my visit associated with more depressing stuff, but it was challenging to avoid bringing the subject up again and again. I believe the company should have just cut all that they needed to cut two years ago and be done with it. This trickle down approach may be good for the investors in Wall Street, but it does more harm than good to the remaining staff. It’s going to take a long of time to heal those wounds to allow the scientists to refocus their attention to finding cures to diseases instead of wondering about their livelihoods.

As we prepare to drive this evening to visit our eldest son in Greensboro, we’re going to pick some light-hearted radio station for our drive over, we’re going to make a point of skipping the first presidential candidate debate this evening, we’re going to focus on the simple things in life: visiting with family, sharing stories, eating whole meals, taking pictures and just rejoicing in the moment without worrying all the other crap that is all around.

I hope you too can turn off the news for at least a day and just worry about what’s within your circle of influence.