Lost in My Space

What we can learn from Hank Hill

Growing up I watched a lot of TV, my favorites were adult cartoons like the Simpsons, Futurama, and King of the Hill. As an adult, I still watch these shows before bed. It’s my way to keep connected with my childhood and wind down from the day. Recently my wife and I have been watching King of the Hill. The show centers around the father Hank a propane salesman, and his wife Peggy a substitute teacher and realtor, as they raise their child Bobby in the ever-changing world of Arlen Texas. Hank is a straight-laced rule follower surrounded by a bunch of self-interested good-hearted people. In the show, Hank is often the one who holds his wife, child, friends, boss, and community accountable.

Last night we watched the episode Lost in My Space from season 13 first airing in November of 2008. In this episode, Hank’s employer Buck Strickland of Strickland Propane sees he is losing business to his local competition Thatherton Fuels. He discovers that Thatherton has joined social media and gained a new online following that has boosted his sales. In the show, Thatherton is often portrayed as a sleazy businessman and whenever Buck competes with him, he normally sinks to his level. This episode would be no different.

Buck enlisted Donna the accountant to set up a company My space page. Hank is more concerned with propane and propane accessories and thinks this is a waste of time. Donna sees this as her opportunity to be heard and feel important. She builds the page with funny clips of her co-workers “freaking” a propane tank, and herself drunk at a club. When Hank sees the page, he is appalled and orders Donna to take it down. However, Buck wants it to stay. Hank is always loyal to the man who gave him his start in propane but doesn’t always support his endeavors. In this situation, Hank tries to keep quiet and do his job.

Over the next few days new customers drop by to see the social media stars and Hank can see the environment shifting in the workplace. It went from a serious place of business concerned about propane and customer service to a place concerned about clicks and attention. Buck is so thrilled with the new business he promotes Donna to assistant manager. The power goes to Donna’s head and before you know it, she is interrupting Hank while helping a customer and orders him to complete his online profile. He tells her he can’t because he has a customer, and she says that there are a million potential customers online, so he needs to prioritize them. Hank leaves and the customer seeks Donna for help. Donna instructs the customer to go online and post her questions on the My Space page. The customer leaves in disgust.

The next thing you know Donna and Hank are at war. Hank has been pushed and disrespected and finally snaps, he blogs that Donna is an idiot. Donna organizes her social media friends into a “flash mob” and they show up at Strickland propane. Buck, seeing the crowd, excitedly walks out thinking they are new customers. The “flash mob” thinks Buck is Hank and starts beating him up. When the dust settles Donna is fired. When Hank breaks the news to her, she lashes out and blames them for giving her power she didn’t deserve.

Over the next few days, Donna becomes vengeful and starts a social media campaign to ruin Stricklands’ business. Hank works tirelessly tracking her down and confronting her. When he finally does, he asks her why she is doing this. She explains that she didn’t feel taken seriously at work and felt like she never had enough to do. Hank explains that she had plenty to do but never did it. Donna says it was because her work was boring. After Hank and Donna hash it out, she is welcomed back to the office. Hank helps her learn a new skill of managing the social media page but this time with a focus on customer service and information.  Hank helped her find balance between the boring work stuff and the fun work stuff.

Hank values information and respect, while Donna was searching for attention and admiration. Hank worked hard and put in the time to build relationships and educate his customers. Donna tried enticing them with funny memes and empty promises. Donna’s failure to understand herself and communicate her issues to others led her to become bitter and when an opportunity arose to get the admiration she was seeking, she took it too far and it led to violence. Hank’s forgiveness allowed Donna back to Strickland and at the end of the episode, Hank was doing what he does best and educating Donna.

Social media changed the environment of Strickland Propane and social media has changed the environment of our political system. Just like at Strickland, it’s shifted power away from those who earn it and into the hands of those who can manipulate it. The political world needs more Hank Hill’s concerned about Government and Government accessories and less Donna’s who are concerned about clicks, attention, and fundraising. I loved this episode because it shows us a lot of the problems we face today. How unchecked power in the wrong hands can have dangerous consequences. How social media is a tool, but in the wrong hands it can be a weapon. It also shows us how to deal with those problems. By checking power with knowledge and love.