Suburban Goddess

No, not the site, but with the comment from earlier… On “Just Say Okay,” Jef pointed out that Americans can’t handle the responsibility of using drugs properly. And suddenly, this light bulb (BLINK) went off in my head and I realized that that COMPLETELY sums up my entire irritation with every issue in my life at the moment.

Nobody is choosing to do the responsible thing anymore.

It’s so much easier to whine, cry, bitch & moan. Blame, blame, blame, but don’t turn the mircoscope on yourself, because THE TRUTH HURTS. This is exactly the point I could not find words to express. The epiphany was so astounding that I felt the need to share with some people, who looked at me (BLINK) with vacant eyes as if to say, “I don’t get it.” (BLINK BLINK.)

I used to tease Chip that for every action he made, there was a consequence. But it seems to me that we aren’t holding people responsible for their actions anymore; the consequences can be manipulated, or worse, ignored. In my day, when I was growing up, the consequences were clear and concise. Eat your dinner or you won’t get anything else tonight. Be home at midnight or you can’t drive the car anymore. Pass your classes or no more tuition money. Embezzle from the company and you will not only be fired, but prosecuted.

It was simple. It was clear. But as I looked around, I noticed that others were not held to the high standards that I was held to. And quite frankly, it pissed me off. Case in point, while attending The University of Memphis (ACK), I had a class with a budding NBA star. He never showed up to class, despite the professor’s strict attendance rule. I struggled with the course matter; I often had to stay after and try to have the professor explain the principles again, much to his irritation. But I stuck with it, and despite my best efforts, I made a D in his class. I sucked it up, prepared to take the class again, when I found out Mr. NBA got an A.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; maybe he had a schedule worked out with the professor. Maybe he turned his work in on a different schedule. But I knew one thing about Mr. NBA from another class (a group project) that made it really hard for me to believe that he passed that philospophy class on his own merit.

He couldn’t read.

And it PISSED ME OFF that I busted my butt for a D, and Mr. NBA (who COULD NOT READ), got an A so the Memphis Tigers could make it to the NCAA finals… at that point, I began to realize that life was not going to be fair.

It truly sucks that people who try to to the right thing, who work hard, who have integrity, who have morals and principles, are made to suffer at the hands of people who refuse to take responsibility for the choices they have made in their lives. It sucks that we can’t legalize drugs because there are those who cannot be responsible, and the responsible ones will have to foot the bills for their medical care when they overdose. It sucks that crooked CEOs & politicians get their “Get Out Of Jail Free” cards while a small time pot-smoker is doing hard time in an overcrowded prison.

The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is carrying the burden of a broken democracy that is drowning in bureaucracy and being strangled by red tape.

And I am becoming more cynical with each passing day. (BLINK. BLINK.) MacLaughlin OUT.

This entry was posted on March 20, 2007 at 11:34 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.