When did the general population get the impression that life is always supposed to be "fair?" I hear people justify all kinds of things all in the name of fairness. "It isn't fair," has become the noble cry of the masses seeking "justice" for those who are less fortunate than others or those who have made choices in life that have led them down the road to ruin. I just don't get it, why does everyone think life has to be fair? We (the collective we as in society as a whole) need to grow the hell up and get over it. If everything was "fair" in life, what would there be to work for?
And true, life is unfair, some people are born rich, some are born dirt poor; some are born beautiful some are born looking like the south end of a donkey headed north. THAT IS LIFE. It's not fair, it never has been fair, it isn't fair now and, it never will be fair. Deal with it. And part of learning to deal with it to quit whining about what you don't have and what someone else does have. There will ALWAYS be someone who has a better car, is thinner, richer, smarter, etc...
How about we use our resources, time and energy striving toward obtaining those things in life that we wish we had. And while we're on the subject of obtaining things, let us visit the idea of actually doing something for ourselves to get the things or reach our goals. How about we quit expecting someone else to fight the fight for us or foot the bill of our goals. Part of the satisfaction of obtaining a goal is being able to know that you did the work, you sweat the drops of perspiration, you bled the blood and you signed along the dotted line. It's all well and good to get help from others, to get and give a leg up, the problem is that so many people have come to EXPECT it. They feel it's OWED to them and they are ENTITLED. There are a few words/phrases I would like to remove from the English language; entitled, owed and under-served - I'll save that for another blog.
I see and deal with so many people in the population that are in their 20's & 30's and they have such unreal expectations. They just figure that if they don't take care of themselves and/or their kids someone else will. Now I will be the first one to hand a starving child my hot dog from the street vendor but dammit anyway, if mom and dad can't afford to feed the little tyke a hot dog, why in the hell do you bring him downtown right next to the hot dog stand? I'll tell you why, so some bleeding heart will give him a hot dog and thereby saving mom & dad the 3 bucks so they can spend it in a slot machine or put it toward their next tattoo. It's that expectation mentality, that mentality of "share the wealth" (Barak Obama be damned). I don't expect anyone to share the wealth with me, why do I have to share mine?
I even hear horror stories from my friends, coworkers and family who have children in public school. They all send school supplies with their kid and then the teacher gathers them up and distributes them "evenly" because it's "not fair" that little Marcus and Gabby's parents can't afford to buy them a box of 64 different colored crayons. Here we go with that "it's not fair" bullshit again. What a CROCK of SHIT! Here's a thought, and work with me here on this one; maybe, just maybe, if Marcus and Gabby learn that they only got the 24 colored crayons in a box because their parents work in a warehouse while Sophie & Adam got the 64 colored crayons in a box because their parents went to college and got professional jobs, they might actually begin to aspire to greater things in life. Not that there's anything wrong with working with a warehouse, it's good, hard, honest labor. But it has it's drawbacks, one of which being that the wages are generally less than those of a professional. I don't make the rules, I don't even like them any more than anyone else sometimes, but that's just the way it is. LIFE IS NOT FUCKING FAIR. It never has been and it never will be. So Marcus & Gabby may just learn that they want to have a career that pays more than what their parents made so they can give THEIR kids the 64 colored crayons in a box. Or Marcus & Gabby will learn to make do with the 24 colored crayons in a box, blend the colors and become true artists who can turn trash into art, without NEEDING the 64 colored crayons. And Sophie & Adam can learn that even if you have the 64 colored crayons in a box, you may not be an artist in the making. But nooo, we can't let the poor little darlings suffer and feel inferior, because that "wouldn't be fair."
And excuse me if I saved my money, and bypassed the large double chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream so that I could buy my kid the 64 colored crayons box, then they damn well better HAVE those 64 crayons. Why is it MY problem or responsibility to provide for Marcus & Gabby because their parents just had to have another pack of cigarettes or another bottle of vodka and thereby couldn't afford more than the 24 colored crayon box. It's not. Marcus & Gabby will figure out that their parents were being selfish pricks and will learn a lesson about parenting.
And just a little side note, as food for thought, when I was a kid in school, we learned to do that amazing thing called SHARING. So when one of my classmates only had the 24 colored crayons and wanted to borrow my "school-house brick red" crayon, I loaned it to them so they could use it and then return it. We both learned a lesson, I learned to share with others and they learned that if you ask someone (not demand or expect it) to share, they usually do. Not always of course and again, the whole life is not fair principle comes into play.
There are all sorts of lessons to be learned with inequality and I fully admit some of them are less than pleasant. The most egregious unfairness of all is NOT teaching people about reality. Teaching them that life should always be fair is the most unfair thing of all. Teaching them that life should be fair sets them up for a lifetime of disappointment and unmet expectations. No matter how much we want life to be fair, expect it to be fair, DEMAND it be fair and whine about it when it's not fair, life will never be fair. Never, ever, ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment