This was recently sent to me by a friend. It was originally published in the London Times and I thought it was so good and appropriate to the current times, I thought I would share it with you.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend,Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge)..
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights. I Want It Now. Someone Else Is To Blame. I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Three Obscenities and a Thank You
After four very different events today, my faith in human nature and the human condition has been severely dented and I therefore felt I would share the following observations and assertions with you:
Obscenity 1
As a Human Being first, a pacifist second and a cricket lover third, it is simply beyond my comprehension how men carrying guns can open fire on police, cricket officials and cricketers as they did in Pakistan today.
What makes any human being (??) or group of human beings (??) think that they have the right and more astonishingly, the justification, to open fire on Cricketers, their officials and the people trying to protect them in the name of religion or some other perverse belief.
What gives them the right to destroy innocent peoples lives who were simply going about their lawful business? What gives them the right to destroy the lives of the families affected and probably to destroy any prospect of international cricket being played again in Pakistan (a cricket loving country) for the foreseeable future.
I feel very sad for all affected and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. I also feel very sad for the wonderful game of cricket. As for those responsible - words simply fail me.
Obscenity 2
It was reported today that a full investigation of child protection services in Dundee will result from the death of Brandon Muir who was killed by Robert Cunningham in such a brutal and obscene way.
There will no doubt be many recriminations and fingers of blame pointed at various people. However, the bottom line is that a very young child has lost his life in an awful way to a person who should have been looking to protect and care for this poor little child.
Such events always hit the headlines and then seem to fade away with little or no lessons seeming to have been learnt. However, the death of one child is one to many and to die in such a tragic and brutal way is simply to horrible to comprehend.
How a human being (??) can carry out such acts on a defenceless child is simply beyond my scope of understanding.
Obscenity 3
Many of course will say that my third choice is as nothing when compared to my first two obscenities, but to me it is still an obscene story for various reasons.
Aston Martin today announced the launch of their most expensive car ever - coming in at £1,000,000. Now, I know that there will be those that will snap up such a symbol of wealth and status. But in times when thousands are losing their jobs and houses, business are going bust and misery is all around the lives of many, such a consumer product at such a time seems to me simply obscene.
In addition, I can't believe that such a car will be contribute to the reduction in global warming with many many litres of fuel being needed to propel it for even a short distance.
Thank You
Finally, and on the positive side, I received a small gift and several "Thank Yous" for some work that I had done for a couple - for which I had also been paid.
In this day and age, this seems to me to be an increasingly rare event and is certainly something we should hear more often. My efforts were appreciated but more importantly, someone took the time and trouble to tell me so.
My faith in human nature, despite the three obscenities had been restored, if only by about 5%.
I will now dismount from my soap box!! Thank you for reading this far :-)
Obscenity 1
As a Human Being first, a pacifist second and a cricket lover third, it is simply beyond my comprehension how men carrying guns can open fire on police, cricket officials and cricketers as they did in Pakistan today.
What makes any human being (??) or group of human beings (??) think that they have the right and more astonishingly, the justification, to open fire on Cricketers, their officials and the people trying to protect them in the name of religion or some other perverse belief.
What gives them the right to destroy innocent peoples lives who were simply going about their lawful business? What gives them the right to destroy the lives of the families affected and probably to destroy any prospect of international cricket being played again in Pakistan (a cricket loving country) for the foreseeable future.
I feel very sad for all affected and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. I also feel very sad for the wonderful game of cricket. As for those responsible - words simply fail me.
Obscenity 2
It was reported today that a full investigation of child protection services in Dundee will result from the death of Brandon Muir who was killed by Robert Cunningham in such a brutal and obscene way.
There will no doubt be many recriminations and fingers of blame pointed at various people. However, the bottom line is that a very young child has lost his life in an awful way to a person who should have been looking to protect and care for this poor little child.
Such events always hit the headlines and then seem to fade away with little or no lessons seeming to have been learnt. However, the death of one child is one to many and to die in such a tragic and brutal way is simply to horrible to comprehend.
How a human being (??) can carry out such acts on a defenceless child is simply beyond my scope of understanding.
Obscenity 3
Many of course will say that my third choice is as nothing when compared to my first two obscenities, but to me it is still an obscene story for various reasons.
Aston Martin today announced the launch of their most expensive car ever - coming in at £1,000,000. Now, I know that there will be those that will snap up such a symbol of wealth and status. But in times when thousands are losing their jobs and houses, business are going bust and misery is all around the lives of many, such a consumer product at such a time seems to me simply obscene.
In addition, I can't believe that such a car will be contribute to the reduction in global warming with many many litres of fuel being needed to propel it for even a short distance.
Thank You
Finally, and on the positive side, I received a small gift and several "Thank Yous" for some work that I had done for a couple - for which I had also been paid.
In this day and age, this seems to me to be an increasingly rare event and is certainly something we should hear more often. My efforts were appreciated but more importantly, someone took the time and trouble to tell me so.
My faith in human nature, despite the three obscenities had been restored, if only by about 5%.
I will now dismount from my soap box!! Thank you for reading this far :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
