Dear Editor,
I proffer a rebuttal to the argument of my friend Hamilton Green, in connection with my desire for a change in the application of the acronym VIP as it relates to humans. Mr. Green missed the gist of my argument. My suggestion was not to stop the utilization of VIP as a title but to reconstruct its significance and interpretation. The ubiquitously used Google App defines the “I” in VIP as “Important” or “Influential.” However, I think it should be either one or the other as a person could be regarded as important but is not directly influential. Many people hold positions of assumed importance but sit idly and are never constructively influential.
Most people other than narcissists are motivated not by a title of VIP but by other titles such as those conferred upon academic achievement. The motivation there lies in those achievements being the means to an end which is to obtain high – salary jobs and independence. Actually, Mr. Green’s statement that those obtaining university degrees should be specially honoured and considered as VIPs, would be true if the “I” in the acronym represented “Influential”. Furthermore and sadly, it is rare that those university graduates are simultaneously regarded as VIPs as the term is presently used. That confirms that the VIP title is inappropriately and inadequately applied, which shows that there was not a thoughtful application for its use.
However, Mr. Green’s statement that people of high rank wear badges or uniforms is an appropriate and comprehensible way of recognising rank. He used his competence as a student of history to provide an example of the failure of the leaders of the East trying to do away with badges of rank. That example has no relevance to my argument justifying the call for the change in VIP. I could understand his desire to maintain the status quo as his long held status as a VIP has followed him into retirement. Mr. Green says that VIPs should recognize the responsibility they carry and I agree. However, if those who obtain the title of VIP as it is presently conferrred, realized the responsibility of that title, I would never have penned my first letter urging that the acronym be reconstructed.
Sincerely,
Conrad Barrow
