The Case for Paddington

In the 1950's a small bear traveled from darkest Peru to Paddington Station in London. He was met by Mr. and Mrs. Brown and all he had was a brown suitcase and sign that read, "Please look after this bear. Thank You!"











Now before I infringe on copy right issues, I will stop there. Growing up, my girlfriend hated this bear! Despised him! He was always getting into trouble and causing mischief she says. "Stupid Bear!" This pains me very much and could be a deal breaker in our relationship in the future (kidding Lena). Paddington is soooo adorable and how can she be so angry at something so cute.

Yes I am pandering to his looks but it's not totally his fault that he gets into so much "mischief." It's not so much that Paddington is a bad bear but that he is becoming acclimated to his new environment. Peter Drucker once said that if a person does not perform in an environment, the organization has made the mistake, not the person. Paddington could very well be a well behaved bear in his own right. Furthermore, Paddington is a very polite bear, he always address' others by Mr., Mrs., Sir, etc. These are words many of us don't hear anymore in modern society.

Drucker has it right though, for Paddington, it's not that he was a bad bear, its that he wasn't given the understanding of social norms in London. He doesn't know the new technologies and may at times misuse these technologies. It can be argued that if Mr. and Mrs. Brown taught Paddington social norms, he would have been better off and my girlfriend would not think Paddington was such a stupid bear. In this case, the Browns have a stake in Paddington's mischief.