For me, it was a book called ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton. It is known as a literary classic these days, but it was quite hard hitting when it was released back in the 1960s.
In a nut shell; It is about a group of semi-impoverished greaser friends growing up in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, and all the life challenges they face, and how they react to prejudice against them whilst coping with family issues.
It was the first book that made me realise that some people in society don’t get it easy growing up, and I discovered what it meant to live on the ‘wrong side of town’ and what societal prejudice was. The outsiders was the first novel I read that brought up hard subjects like; domestic violence, alcoholism, street gang violence etc.
It was the first book to shatter my naive way of thinking about the world, at 13 years old! It is still one of my favourite stories to this day, and for all its slightly dark themes, I love the compassionate friendship and brotherhood that is displayed in this book!
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. As a young person, it was quite the question: What is quality? We all know it when we see it. But what is it? Can you just go to the store and say, “I’d like to buy twelve (what?) of quality, please?” Obviously not. So what is it?
I’ve never looked at co-workers the same since reading that book.
I read this book 10-15 years ago and have largely forgotten it. Could you say more about how you look at coworkers different since reading it?
Early on in the book, he mentions going in to a motorcycle repair shop and the radio in the workshop is blaring loudly. The kid who was supposed to fix his motorcycle, broke his motorcycle instead. The people who (you would think would) want to be doing high quality work had created an environment of distraction so that they didn’t have to think about their work. The result was low quality work.
So, now in my work environment, I’m now looking to see if my co-workers add to the work environment or detract from it. And the same coin but the flip side: I don’t go bother my co-workers about the latest news / sports / politics. We need to get stuff done, so our clients don’t find someone else to hire in our stead.
That’s interesting. Thanks for elaborating