There are some environs that accentuate the need for balance. They seem to emphasize their lack of diversity. Although the pendulum can swing in both directions, in this case there are two places that immediately come to mind and they both involve necessity for acceptance of diversity. What is also remarkable is how easily the individuals conform to the standards of acceptance and respect for their fellows. It makes one ponder how these disciplines can be successfully translated into other, additional environs.

Public Transportation
There is a vast the population that uses public transportation to travel from Point A to Point B. The only commonality about it is that it is constituted of humankind. The differences are that these people represent all of humankind. They are of all ages, socioeconomic status, education, colors, ethnicities. The languages spoken are nearly as proliferate. The spectrum of cognizance is also broad.

Aside from representing humankind, those who use public transportation are people who need to travel within the city from a starting point to a destination at a particular time of the day or night. In order to do so, there is a need for tolerance, courtesy, and abiding by the transportation provider's rules of governance.

It's easy to see another's humanity. A person with a cold is likely to have a tissue of some sort offered after sneezing. It is a self-serving act, to be sure. But the gesture is an extra effort on the part of a stranger. And the comfort at being able to use the tissue is something that is appreciated by those affected. It is remarkable to watch as people make room for a person with a visible disability. Likewise, even those who have minimal, if any cognizance of their environment are allowed to be absorbed into the mix without objection because the commonality among the passengers is moving in a rapid and easy progression from one point to a destination.

University Groups
Likewise, university study groups seem to have a similar generic acceptance factor. No matter the time of day nor the day of the week, it's easy to spot similar schools of study. But that is generally where the similarities end. Study groups are constituted of people, not races. Study groups are constituted of similarly paired students in a particular class.

Essentially, the time at which race or ethnicity impacts the study group is when the group is made up of students who do not have English as a primary language. In fact, what generally happens in those groups is that the study session is conducted in the native tongue so that maintenance of fluency and cementing of concepts can more readily occur. Where the language skills are stronger, students gravitate outside of their ethnic groups in order to combine with others who have strengths in certain concepts and offer sufficient challenge to keep the group dynamic and on an upward learning curve, thus creating a stronger possibility of earning better final grades.

To view the study and social groupings is interesting. It is entirely possible to see a group of five who are of a different ethnicity as well as gender. Is it possible to pick out which is the special admission student? Not really. Is it easy to determine which ones gained admission and attendance because of government supports? Absolutely not.

First of all, none of them speak of finances. That matter is a part of the history of getting into the classes. The primary focus is learning the subject extremely well, thereby causing them to be accepted into mainstream business. Finances are not the class subject and are not discussed. Additionally, a quick survey of the students will reveal that nearly all of them are paying school finances at the behest of government loans and grants.

The students have come together at a coffee shop in order to have a safe place to meet that does not require their time to clean or prepare before or after the study session. The entire focus is on learning the subject. The meeting place preserves personal privacy. It is in proximity of the university. Thus, access is also not an issue, but instead is another commonality.

And that leads to yet another reason why these groups work. All of these university students have endured the rigors of gaining acceptance into the university. Because those powers (and the screening and qualifying tests) have deemed them acceptable for attendance at the school, there is an underlying statement of belonging to the environment. There is appropriateness because of the labor to become qualified. Therein lies yet another layer of acceptance of the diverseness in the groups. They are all students of the same university or else students in the same class.

Because they come to the same coffee shop to study, instead of a library, they have become "regulars" who are part of the scene. They develop relationships of identity with other "regulars," whether they are fellow students or just others who also use the coffee shop for study or business endeavors. And because of being "regulars," friendships and alliances are formed. Those friendships are another degree in acceptance, of allowing one's ethnicity to become a non-factor as it bleeds out of the formula that creates entitlement to being in the space.

My theories were formulated after studying the various places. There was time to privately dissect each group of students and the various clusters of people from a distance by observation. The day finally came when it was appropriate to confirm the observations and conclusions. A brief conversation with several groups confirmed the above in relation to the university coffee shop populations.

Health in the Two Environments
These two situations are so fundamentally simplistic in their nature. It seems these empiricals should be obvious and tools to support them in at least most work environments, if not all groups, should be more than fundamental. Unfortunately, extraneous elements tend to seep into work and social networks. The focus strays from the ultimate goal and who among the numbers can offer the best input and support. Instead, the focus meanders into the identity of the individuals and breakdowns occur because the identities are then draped with worn-out myths that should have been buried decades, if not centuries, ago.

Let me propose that if your environment does not already have the health of the transit ride or the university coffee shop that a consideration of these two models be implemented. Determine what one small step can be made to begin the walk toward being a true place of accomplishing high return on investment because the investment is not the color of the capital but the contributions of it.