Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal's Suicide
When we hear the stories of grown men throwing themselves out of buildings in the ‘29 crash, we think, how primitive they were in those days. Things got so bad and people lost so much money that they simply couldn't contemplate living another day. We always think that could never happen to us again - but here we are 100 years later and history is repeating itself.? We're still doing everything according to the same capitalistic system.
The thing about our egoistic system is that when things are good - no one is thinking that we may need to replace it one day. And even at a time like this when things are getting pretty bad, no one is talking about replacing the system. No one is even thinking about it. Like that's not even an option.
Bed, Bath & Beyond recently reported that it will let go of 20% of its 34K employees, and close 150 stores. It's also going to secure a massive amount of funding, which is a really bad idea. An injection of cash will not stop the bleeding. If the CFO of the company was in total panic mode imagine how the rest of the employees are feeling. And imagine how bad the situation really is, beyond what's being reported.
We're going through a significant transition and part of that is discovering that buying tons of stuff isn't making us happy.
We may think those high-level executives right at the top of the pyramid are getting what’s coming to them, but we're all part of this system that is no longer working since around 1929. We keep going back to our default because we've convinced ourselves that money makes us happy. We think we have the best system, but since it was designed by humans, trust me - there is a flaw built into it. It may have been a small deviation hundreds of years ago, but now it's getting bigger and bigger.
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When one individual in our human network harms himself this way it sets off a whole chain of events. We may not be able to see all the parts of the process but ultimately it harms all of us.?We should really care about creating a global way of life where no one would think about taking their own life like this. One way or another we will all learn to care about what happens to the people outside of our own very limited and narrow ego.
On A Personal Note
Not to take away from the gravity of this story, but Bed, Bath & Beyond used to be my favorite store when I was living in Manhattan. Of course I couldn't really afford to shop there, but I had lots of fun shopping for the wealthy couple I worked for. I had all their credit cards on me for my daily shopping excursions, including their AMEXs, tons of cash, and bank cards. I used to rollerblade straight into the store and no one said a word. (Even Bloomingdale's and Polo Ralph Lauren!) So I'm very familiar with this brand and what it has to offer. The problem is that we've changed. We're going through a significant transition and part of that is discovering that buying tons of stuff isn't making us happy. The penny has finally dropped. The Story of Stuff came out in 2009. We were all very excited but we kept on buying. The pandemic hit, and everyone went into a buying frenzy to fill the void. But now people are looking at their lives and seeing that simple can really be better. We don't need all this stuff. It's not providing us with the fulfillment we need.
Even our great Robyn Storey just announced that she's stopped buying stuff, and giving away the stuff she has: "After looking through the mountains of shit, inviting the neighbors to come and take what they wanted and packing up the rest for Goodwill, I’d somehow felt lighter, more free." And replied to my comment, "Josia Nakash I was truly mortified by the amount of boxes."
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Hopefully many more Americans will start clearing out their closets and seeing what they can give to those less fortunate than themselves. We could take all that "junk" - I'm sure a lot of it would still have the tags on - and create huge warehouses for people to come take whatever they need. Even a company like BB&Y that sells stuff for a living, would be smart to contribute to initiatives like this that help close the gaps in society. If they really dedicated themselves to using their surplus product in new ways - they could turn this sad story around.
Versatile professional with 20 years + of experience in Import / Export and Commodities Trading.
2 年You are such a great writer Josia. I read your writing any time it pops up for me . This is very sad. In the end , no one knows for sure what was going on in the mind of this person apart from himself. The rest is all speculation. My condolences to the family, they are the true ones affected by this .
Growth Mindset & Empowerment Coach | Director, GTM Leadership Development & Coaching | Host, She Grabs The Mic Podcast (*Views expressed here are solely mine.)
2 年This is another deeply heartbreaking story Josia. We're hearing about this one because he was a high level CEO. There are so many other souls suffering that go unrecognized. Your article is powerful and spot on. Thank you. We're working and living in a system that's broken. It's created priorities and decisions that are fueling it. Your reminder that we built these systems is so important. We can mend them, heal them and we can reinvent them altogether. It's all within our power. To make it real, we have to be willing to listen to one another, live with less, give more and take action from a mindset of truly wanting something better for one another. #mentalhealth
Executive Leader Driving Ethical, Data-Driven Transformation
2 年This is obviously a very heavy topic. I do not comment on this lightly. However, there is a difference between those who have a mental illness that are driven towards suicide, and those who cowardisticly choose suicide. I have had many friends who were tragically driven to suicide because of mental illness. I don’t know all the circumstances here, so I consider my comments as under-informed but, given what I’ve seen, I do not think Gustavo Arnal is the right person to focus this very serious subject matter on because there seems a high probability of added cowardiceness in this particular, public story, and that potential seems unfair to compare to those with legitimate mental illnesses. Are you aware of the very serious allegations Mr. Arnal, along with others, was faced with just days prior? Regardless of whatever happened, I wish his family and loved ones well.
Turning AI complexity Into Revenue Growth | Business Development Innovator | Driving Customer Satisfaction & Adoption for Microsoft 365 Copilot | Digital Transformation & Sales Enablement
2 年Thank you for raising this topic. In July, a man in India killed himself after being laid off from his job at a call center. The man, who was in his early twenties, had been working at the call center for two years. He was one of hundreds of employees who were laid off. In August, a man in the United States killed himself after being laid off from his job at a manufacturing plant. The man, who was in his fifties, had been working at the plant for thirty years. He was one of several hundred employees who were laid off. In both cases, the men had been struggling with depression before they were laid off. And in both cases, their families said that the men's depression worsened after they lost their jobs. The suicides of these two men are a tragic reminder of the toll that toxic workplaces can take on workers' mental health. When workers are laid off, they often face a multitude of stressors. They may worry about how they will support themselves and their families. They may feel like they have failed. And they may feel like their worth as a person has been diminished.
HR Fanatic ? Strategic Planning & Execution ? HR Operations Management ? Employee Relations & Experience
2 年So tragic.