Political Mind- Trick
On being offered something you never asked for.
When I was 18 years old and working in a restaurant, I got promoted from being a dishwasher and busboy to waiter, a job that taught me a great deal about service and how people think. During my training, the restaurant's owner and manager gave me a small tip to help increase the value of the cheque at the end of the meal.
“Try this, Jordan,” he said.
“If you’re taking an order for any of the main courses that are served with fries, smile, look your customer in the eye, and give a very slight nod like you’re saying ‘yes,’ and ask them if they’d like a side of gravy.” He went on to explain to me that this soft persuasion technique is called the Sullivan nod, promoted by restaurant consultant Jim Sullivan. If done right, this small Jedi mind trick works about 60% of the time. The positive suggestion sends a small signal to the other person's brain, activating a connection response. That 60% of the time can dramatically impact your total sales volume on any given shift. Plus, most people like gravy! If anything, you’re reminding the customer of something they want intuitively. They aren’t going to think about the consequences of ongoing gravy consumption. I know firsthand because this trick works marvelously on me.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of the 10 questions Albertans will be able to vote on in the October 19th referendum. The last time I reviewed the questions, I said to myself, “This is a multi-million-dollar Sullivan nod at the people of Alberta.” A 37-million-dollar Sullivan nod, with the potential for a 62 Billion-dollar cost to our economy, depending on the results. 10 questions asking how Albertans feel about certain issues, from Canadian unity to immigration, the constitution, and social programs.
Many of the 10 questions are smiling at the Albertan voter, engineered like that side-of-gravy prompt. By asking if we support restricting services or asserting control, they subtly ask, “Do you like efficiency?” or “Do you like freedom?” A perfectly logical prompt—who would say no? While at the same time masking cruel consequences to newcomers and alienating our confederation.
I can imagine the authors of the referendum waving their hand at me, like I’m a weak-minded stormtrooper. “You don’t like waste...you should do whatever you want…You will vote yes"
This referendum process is a very costly Jedi mind trick masquerading as responsible governance.
As Albertans, we don’t like to see any kind of waste, and we certainly aren't interested in being restrained from living well. But historically, we are also proud to help out, and we will show up to build our country.
The questions being asked are not so much about what resources are being wasted as about who they are being wasted on. The referendum is also less about freedom than about the removal of responsibility and accountability.
Should we make it hard for foreign workers and new Canadians to send their children to school by making them pay out of pocket? If these new neighbors have traveled by land and seek to serve you at McDonald’s, should we deny them care if they get sick? If a new Canadian needs help getting on their feet and using one of our social programs, should we pull the rug out from under them?
If you believe that acts of generosity constitute waste, then answering “yes” to the 10 referendum questions is logical. I would have more respect for the process if the questions contained that level of honesty.
I hold a defiant, grace-giving belief that serving and helping others is never a waste. A view that is not exclusive to my faith background. This view is shared throughout the prairies.
I can already hear the objections from some readers: “But Jordan, we have the real dollars-and-cents reality of managing our province. We can’t afford to continue as we are today,” and I can accept that truth. No reasonable person is suggesting we can’t improve how our province works. We can’t negotiate with reality; economics determines our reality.
With that extra side of gravy in mind. I also know the Alberta government found 37 million dollars to spend on this referendum process that most of us didn’t ask for. In a provincial budget, 37 million is a small amount, but if divided up among the 2000 elementary schools in the province, a school administrator would have made good use of $18,500 in their budget this year. Or, an investment of $370,000 would make a difference in our 100 acute care facilities throughout the province.
Our provincial government has a remarkable ability to fund its priorities.
But I have faith in Albertans to tackle those challenges with vigor, strength, and resilience. It’s what we do in Alberta. We are pioneers, entrepreneurs, and get-it-done kind of people. Investments in education and healthy living will pay off, yielding strong returns in the future. I don’t believe the same can be said about the investment made in the October 19th referendum.
This Jedi Mind trick does not work on me. I will be voting “Yes” to remain in Canada and “No” to the other nine questions.
I would encourage you to check out Before you Vote. We all need to do our homework on these issues before we vote. Lastly, remember that voting is only one tool in the ongoing construction of the world we all want to be a part of. We all need to think about ways we can improve life here in Alberta. We’re builders; we got this.