The Day I Stopped Lowering the Bar for Anyone

Two cats gone. Lola first. Minette now.
Both died with their eyes open, and with a level of dignity that people in positions of responsibility no longer even attempt to match.

What changed me was not grief. I can handle grief.
What changed me was watching, again, how easily humans choose self-preservation over duty.

A vet who lied instead of telling the truth.
Who delayed decisions to extend billing.
Who gave painkillers instead of care.
Who let an animal endure avoidable suffering because accountability was inconvenient.

This is not an isolated failure.
It is the same pattern I see in corporations, leadership teams, and supposedly “senior” professionals:
- People who want titles, not responsibility.
- People who want trust, not the discipline required to earn it.
- People who speak of values while avoiding every moment that actually demands them.

Animals do not operate in that register.
They do not fake compassion.
They do not posture.
They do not negotiate basic decency.

Their loyalty shames our sophistication.

Lola’s passing fractured an old belief: that patience eventually pays off.
Minette’s passing destroyed the last illusion that incompetence deserves empathy.

So let me state this with absolute clarity:

I am done absorbing the cost of other people’s lack of care.
I am done giving second chances to those who hide behind excuses.
I am done tolerating leaders who delegate their conscience.
I am done working around people who hold authority but refuse responsibility.

From this point forward, if you step into a role, you own it.
If you claim expertise, you prove it.
If you ask for trust, you earn it every single day.
And if you fail in the basics, truth, duty, care, then you are out of excuses, out of goodwill, and out of my patience.

This is not about sentiment.
It is about standards.

Lola showed more integrity than many professionals I have met.
Minette suffered because someone was more attached to comfort than to truth.

That ends here.

I will not lower the bar for anyone again.
Not for incompetence.
Not for ego.
Not for those who speak about responsibility yet refuse to carry it.

If animals can uphold the essentials of dignity, then humans have no excuse.