VIEWPOINT
Gift that keeps giving Buying locally supports the efforts of GE and others
BY PETER J. GUIDARELLI For The Sunday Gazette
The holiday season will soon be upon us, and the spirit of giving will hit its yearly pinnacle. I would like to share some ideas to provide Schenectady with a small economic boost yet create a big impact on those in need.
We are blessed in Schenectady that much of the heavy lifting of corporate giving is done by great local companies like Price Chopper, Trustco Bank and The Daily Gazette. But it is a recent very personal experience that really made me think of the General Electric Co. in a much different light and the impact it has had on so many families in the region.
Recently my 15-year-old son experienced a re-occurrence of a series of nightly grand mal seizures. The seizure is an epileptic episode that launches him into an uncontrollable, full-body convulsion that lasts for several minutes then leaves his body comatose in appearance and almost lifeless. It feels like a lifetime when it happens. If you were to see one and were not aware of what it was, you would think your child was dying right before your very eyes.
Luckily, in our situation, they are not as bad as they appear, but they can exhaust the body. My son’s condition required an MRI of his brain to help diagnose the problem. The MRI can determine if the source of the seizures is purely a neurological short circuit (good news, relatively speaking) or if there is another cause, such as a tumor on the brain (obviously bad news).
As we checked into the hospital and proceeded to the MRI exam, a family was receiving bad news from an MRI result. Witnessing the raw emotional reaction is a true reality check.
TIME TO REFLECT
As my son lay still on his back, strapped to the conveyor bed, the machine slowly pulled him into the belly of the MRI chamber.
This ultra-sophisticated piece of equipment is surprisingly simply designed in appearance and has the familiar GE logo prominently displayed in a soft blue color. For 45 minutes, I was alone in the exam room, staring at my boy while pacing, observing and thinking a thousand thoughts as the machine cast intermittent deafening, knocking and rapidfire rattling sounds that were thankfully muffl ed by earplugs.
At times like this, comfort is needed, and with the thought of the other family still fresh in my mind, that comfort came in part by just staring at the GE logo, reflecting on my family and our home. I think many longtime Schenectadians feel that GE represents home.
I grew up in Schenectady, where five generations of my family built more than 10 businesses since 1916. The General Electric Co. did not just light the world — GE built family foundations that are generations strong. For us, GE built a trophy store, barber shop, restaurant, liquor store, construction company, bowling alley and more.
Through the years, our businesses donated to charities and worthwhile programs in Schenectady and still do today. My family did not work for GE but worked because of GE, and that’s what that logo has always represented to me.
For longtime residents of Schenectady and the Capital Region, the illuminated GE logo that glows brightly on Erie Boulevard has been an everyday symbol of American innovation and quality.
Unfortunately, many things we see every day, like that GE logo, are sometimes taken for granted or underappreciated. GE was often criticized during layoffs and portrayed as turning its back on Schenectady. Schenectady, however, was not looking at GE’s turned back; we just didn’t see that GE was gazing beyond the borders of the U.S. and facing the rest of the world. GE did so to position itself in a global economy, steeped in an economic battle that reached around the globe and ultimately back to Schenectady. ..................>>>>..................>>>>...............
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