In my younger days, I often heard the expression "Larger than Life," which typically referred to a celebrity or movie. It was used to describe something special, and while it is mostly a positive term, it also has a dark side. Being LTL can also mean being dishonest, or in Aussie parlance, "up yourself."
During our recent family excursion to the USA, I found myself contemplating the term, and how well it seems to fit America and Americans.
I took the tour of Fenway Park (home of the larger-than-life Boston Red Sox baseball team). It includes the "Green Monster," a higher than normal boundary wall to account for the shorter than normal third base boundary.
Fenway also has a special red seat, marking the spot where on June 9 1946, hit a home run hit by Ted Williams landed 502 ft (153m) from home plate.
It was the longest ever Major League Baseball home run hit, at least at Fenway.
Ted Williams is LTL.
And it was the world famous Boston Red Sox who "sold" the best baseball player ever to their arch-rival New York Yankees. Babe (aka "the bambino") Ruth's transfer to New York is said to have led to "the curse of the bambino."
Baseball provides us with the analogy for almost anything American. It is certainly LTL.
We also visited a water slide park: "the largest water park in the world…"
The second biggest shopping mall in the world. Large is good:
- The cars are large.
- The roads are large.
- The toilet bowls are large.
- The shopping malls are large.
- The flags are large.
- The range of breakfast cereals and ice-cream flavours at the super-market is large.
- The meal sizes are generally large.
- The people are, well, large.
But being LTL is also about behaviour. It has been said that in the entertainment business, there are no small parts, only small actors. In the USA, the actors are mostly large. They have posture, even a swagger about them, no matter the role.
In restaurants and many retail stores, the service staff are generally performing a role: "hi, my name is Amber and I will be your server tonight;" or "Hi there, is there something I can show you?" And, one of my personal favourites, "You're all set now!"
At the local supermarket, you are likely to find grocery packers - "paper or plastic?" - and often a person who will take your groceries to the car. Each role is performed by an actor.
In the corporate world, everyone is a specialist. Public servants, maintain an air of self-importance. They often seem to perform their roles, no more no less.
And all of it seems LTL.
And the dark side I mentioned? I sometimes wonder if being LTL is sustainable.
Can we afford all those bit parts? Do the grocery packers get paid fairly? Does being larger than life equate to value creation? It does if you are in the larger-than-life business.
But being larger than life for some Americans also means being larger than accepting - or providing - government assistance. Take, for instance, universal health care. How is it that such a larger than life nation does not see fit to provide adequate health care for those who may not be quite large enough?
Generally, I like the concept of a larger than life USA, but somehow, this trip, it seems to have lost its swagger. A GFC and economic down-turn will do that to you. I look forward to a time when that larger than life America is back, but perhaps with just a touch of humility and compassion.
I'll call it LTL 2.0. Perhaps it can happen in time for the football season.
