So you don`t give a hoot about the guy at the next workstation, the lady next door or the customer with a complaint.
Or you don`t know what to say to the longtime colleague in the office down the hall who just got his pink slip.
You`re no Scrooge. You`re just a typical American.
According to a study by the Roper Organization commissioned by Florists`
Transworld Delivery Association (FTD), Americans by and large view themselves as uncaring, unromantic, materialistic, hard working and aggressive.
Women are more caring than men, and the poor are more caring than the wealthy.
Officials of FTD, an association of 24,000 florists in the U.S. and Canada, commissioned the study to find out what the nation thinks about sentiment.
”We have been in the caring business for 82 years,” said Rick Sharpe, director of marketing for FTD, based in suburban Detroit. The association`s national phone and computer center is in west suburban Downers Grove.
”We wanted to confirm in the 1990s whether we are still on target.”
Despite the low marks Americans give themselves, the study indicated there is hope.
Almost 80 percent of the 806 adults across the country interviewed by Roper in June and July said they blame the lack of caring for fellow individuals for much of what ails society. They said Americans ought to take more time to show other people that they care, but weren`t quite sure how to do it.
”It is important to recognize the problem,” said Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University in Boston, who was hired by FTD to analyze the data Roper gathered.
”This may be the beginning of the `we generation` and the end of the `me generation,` ” he said. ”In the 1980s, people were too busy making a buck to care. Our landing in Somalia is an example of this new caring.”
FTD, which claims to have a 60 to 70 percent share of the $8 billion annual floral market in the U.S., in recent years has been diversifying into such product lines as cards and candy as part of a strategy to establish its members as one-stop outlets for special-occasion shopping. Traditional florists in recent years have been increasingly subject to competition from discount stores and supermarkets.
Sharpe said the Roper study provided few surprises.
Among the conclusions was that the Scrooge factor is lower among the poor than the rich. Those with family incomes below $15,000 a year generally rated their fellow Americans as more caring (37 percent) and thoughtful (32 percent) than those with incomes over $50,000. Only 22 percent of the wealthier people interviewed said Americans were caring and only 20 percent said they were thoughtful.
The wealthy also ranked Americans as materialistic (67 percent) and aggressive and competitive (59 percent).
The Scrooge factor was higher by a substantial margin in the West than other regions, the Roper poll said.
The South gave the highest marks for caring, thoughtfulness and courtesy. Midwesterners were least likely to describe Americans as materialistic and trailed only the South in thinking their countrymen were caring and courteous.
The survey also provided some insight into values Americans hold in the 1990s. Honesty ranked highest at 86 percent, followed by getting along with people, responsibility for one`s actions, and respect of authority (60 percent). Far down the list was education (48 percent), physical fitness (46 percent) and religion (44 percent).
Sparing no expense when it comes to one`s children ranked dead last.
Americans think their friends should be trusting, honest, caring and good listeners. Last was charisma.
It may not bode well for florists, but the people Roper talked to said the telephone was the most frequently used method of keeping in touch with friends or relatives who live far away. Cards and letters were in the middle of the list and flowers were near the end.
”That`s not too surprising when you remember that the average floral arrangement is $35,” said Sharpe.
Levin thinks the study may portend broader implications for society as a whole. For one thing, he thinks the nature of the American hero is changing. In the 19th Century, tycoons such as John D. Rockefeller were lionized. Earlier in this century, as leisure became more important, the heroes were entertainers such as Bing Crosby and athletes like Babe Ruth.
”We are beginning to idolize activism-Americans who are willing to give up their seat among the couch potatoes and take charge in the face of government and big business,” Levin said. Figures like Oliver North and Ross Perot typify the new heroes of activism-people willing to do something about a problem.
”We need new ways to express that we care, not just at Christmas or on birthdays. We have to develop role models who care,” he said.
”A lot of sociologists in this country recognize from the crime rate, especially the violent crimes, that there are a lot of people who do not care about other people. There is even a book out on moral illiteracy,” said Levin, a specialist in hate crimes and mass murder.
