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Posts for Topic: Reflections

The Best Reason to Trust Science

by Mike Critelli


We created the MakeUsWell Network three years ago because we are deeply committed to critical thinking. We want to follow the facts wherever they may lead us.

One tragic consequence of the pandemic has been the abandonment of scientific principles by authority figures. We cannot let inconvenient or negative consequences from following scientific research divert us from getting the facts.

Three years ago, when President Trump called Covid-19 the "China virus," he was widely criticized for the xenophobic implications of the label. His careless and inflammatory language was especially concerning coming from the President of the United States.

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MakeUsWell's Worldview, Today

by Mike Critelli


Vaccinations and boosters are necessary to our pandemic containment strategy. But they have been inadequately marketed. If telling people what's good for them were enough, no one would smoke, overeat, or do drugs. All health-related messaging in the pandemic needs the same sophisticated marketing we are used to getting from Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.

Though necessary, vaccines and boosters just aren't enough. We also need 

Response to Mike Critelli's Reflections on 9/11

by Carol Harnett


Carol Harnett is a health and disability expert. She is the president of the nonprofit organization Council for Disability Awareness. Carol is a radio host, speaker, consultant and writer. This letter was written to Mike in response to his reflections on the anniversary of 9/11.

MakeUsWell edited Carol’s words for clarity and length.

9/12/2021

Mike,

Thank you for sharing your reflections on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. As someone who grew up on Staten Island, I lost fathers and mothers of childhood friends, high school classmates, and countless acquaintances. My closest friend’s husband was an architect for the Port Authority, who saw the first plane from his office window before it struck the tower. He got about half of his coworkers to run into the stairwell with him as the plane hit about 6 stories above them. The stairs disintegrated under his feet as he descended. He suffered intense survivor guilt and never fully recovered psychologically. He has not set foot in Manhattan again. The Port Authority accommodated him and allowed him to use an office in NJ.

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On the 20th Anniversary of 9/11

by Mike Critelli


I recently received an email from a former operations VP at Pitney Bowes. He was part of the New York City unit hardest hit on September 11, 2001. Now retired, these many years later, he still took the time to thank me for a call I made on September 11 when they lost four employees and had several hundred others displaced from customer sites in lower Manhattan.

I actually made many calls that day and evening and in the days immediately following. I led multiple group meetings, and broadcast emails and voicemails following the events of September 11. At Pitney Bowes, we focused heavily on the well-being of our employees and their families as well as the customers served in Manhattan. It was the right way to help us all heal from the tragedy. It also ended up being good business.

Well before 9/11, we created and nurtured a health focused culture at Pitney Bowes. Our leaders' behaviors during the crisis were a natural and predictable manifestation of that culture.

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