I’m over people. I know, I know, you’ve heard me say that before. And the reason isn’t anything new, but come one people. Can we please smarten up? Anyone that is listening to the radio and hears the same commercial I do should be in an uproar. But I might be jumping ahead. Let me start with a fun little story.
When I was in middle school, I babysat for a family in the neighborhood. The kids were terrible, but I liked getting money. The job wasn’t all that hard, the kids were just awful. (As in the little girl was trying to jump on my back and cut my hair off on my second day.) They lived on a cul-de-sac, as many of us did. There were maybe seven houses on their street. Some days, I would ride my bike over. Other days, I would rollerblade. And sometimes a good walk was all I needed. One day, I decided to rollerblade over. We did our thing, snacks, play, TV, whatever. When the dad came home, I took off on my blades. But before I left the cul-de-sac, I stopped past a friend’s driveway since they were shooting around. I had my discman (that’s right, pre ipod/mp3 player days, the portable cd player) and was shooting one handed in my roller blades. Some little twerpy kid from another street decided he was going to be his usual obnoxious self. Through his annoyance and just plain bad behavior, he knocked my discman out of my hand to the ground. I was pissed. So what did I do? I dropped him. That’s right. I tripped a kid two years younger than myself so that he was on the ground. Why? I needed to defend myself and my property. Seems fair. I went home. My mother greeted me at the door in the kitchen as she was cooking dinner. She knew I was upset and asked about it. So I told her that he broke my discman from knocking it to the ground. She rolled her eyes. She knew he was a twerp. What could be worse? Twerpy McGee ran home to tell his mommy that I hurt him. He listed out how I tripped him and threw him to the ground. He told her I yelled at him to leave him alone. Oh, I was a bad person. Momma Twerp called my mother. She was very upset and decided that I should be punished for what I did to her son. On and on she went about my behavior and how I hurt him. And my mother? She asked a very important question. “Did he also tell you that he was harassing Jewel and knocked her discman out of her hands breaking it?” Gulp. Boy oh boy was I in trouble when I messed with her son. But man oh man, was she eating crow when she found out what her son had done first. As my father taught me, I never started a fight, but I’d sure as heck finish one. Why would I bring up this story? What on earth does it have to do with some radio ad? Thanks for asking. I love the participation and feedback. Recently we’ve been listening to the radio since Christmas music is on 24/7. (Yes, I’m one of those.) There’s a commercial on there that begins with banging on a door and a muffled voice, “IRS. Open up.” The commentator than tells us all about the big, bad IRS and all the ways they come after us. Then we hear, “Don’t be a victim!” I’m sorry. So, a person doesn’t pay their taxes for five years. They receive notices, phone calls, emails, and now the IRS at their door. And who is the victim? The person that committed a federal crime is the victim. *Insert a facepalm or banging my head against a wall.* How is this possible? The twerp didn’t pay taxes. I paid my taxes. I pay taxes for roads I barely use (I don’t go out much). I pay taxes to schools that my children don’t attend and my husband doesn’t work for. I pay taxes on every dime I make for book sales, personal training, and tutoring. I pay. But someone decides they don’t have to pay and they’re the victim? I’m paying for that kids free or reduced lunch every day and they’re the victim? It’s sickening. The worst part about all of this, is that so many people are numb to it. Society doesn’t bat an eye at the commercial. We have created a world where people get to commit crimes and then get bailed out of their consequences. We need to do better. We need to teach our children about consequences, and stick to them. We shouldn’t like the consequences for bad behavior. That’s the point. It teaches us to not do it again. We need to stop letting our kids and others off the hook. In the end, we’re the victims that pay.
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AuthorI have a lot to say about a lot of things. Archives
May 2023
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