You are Kidding, Right?

William Shakespeare (Photo credit: Christopher Marks)

I have decided that we simply cannot leave well enough alone. Over the years I have watched as a lot of my basic understandings, those things that sat really well within me, have been fought over, made terribly controversial, and, some, just plain tossed out.

It is no wonder we grow up confused and searching all the time. Here is a short list of things that should be just left well enough alone:

Complete set of the seven books of the Harry Potter series. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1) Shakespeare wrote all his works
2) Harry Potter is not of the devil
3) Apples are good for you
4) It is okay to be a little overweight
5) Two things can’t exist in the same place at the same time.
6) People who die in the military deserve a quiet, respected funeral
7) Jail is not a comfortable place
8) If you get hurt robbing someone, you cannot sue them.
9) Church and State should be separate
10) Sports in schools are an extra-curricular activity
11) It is wrong to harass people
12) Some competition is good
13) Teachers teach; students learn
14) There are things kids shouldn’t see
15) Moderate disciplining of your child is okay
16) Owning the best cell phone is not a right
17) An honest, law-abiding citizen has more rights than a criminal
18) Teaching is not just testing
19) Simply not working is not a good enough reason for the government to support you
20) Just because you want something doesn’t mean you should have it
21) You should not receive millions of dollars because you spill hot coffee on yourself
22) Going to school should be a safe and learning opportunity
23) One trillion dollar debt was enough
24) Gaming is not a real world
25) Just because it was said on the Internet does not make it true

There you have the first 25 items I decided upon. There are so many more. Now, before you “really picky” people start in, I know full well that there is a lot of gray in many of the above issues; maybe even all of them.

It’s not that. It’s that, well, it seems to me any more that whatever you choose to do, say, or even think, there are at least two sides to the issue and it can get a bit ridiculous.

List of titles of works based on Shakespearean phrases (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You know, for some things, who really cares? Take the Shakespeare thing. Does it really matter if he actually wrote the material or stole it? I mean really? Yes, it’s wrong to steal (I imagine that depends, too), but whoever really wrote it didn’t jump up and say “Here I am! I did this!” So, why do we think, hundreds of years later, that we need to step in a “correct” something that, really may not matter to 99.9% of the world population?

Elevator jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s like the study I had to read that stated that how many people are in an elevator directly figures if someone will help you pick up change you drop. The idea was that less people meant the others wouldn’t feel funny about helping a stranger. Hey! How about the fact that, after about 3 people, an elevator is too flippin full for people to bend over and help you pick up change? I mean really.

mcdonalds free coffee mug (Photo credit: fsse8info)

The McDonald’s one has always gotten me. The coffee is hot?…really? It wasn’t like the person handing it to the lady threw it in her face. Now, we are suing and blaming McDonald’s because our kids are fat?! Don’t take them! Problem solved. They want to go?! Wow! You are the parent! Oh, that’s right…kids run the family now. Apparently, they are smarter than the grown-ups and are totally protected from harm and can do as they please.

Do I sound like I am whining? Am I on a rant?! Is any of what I am saying true?!

It’s not the individual thing I am against here. Perhaps, inmates are being treated poorly at some places and a little more humane treatment is necessary. Not my point. But, when it gets to the place that a person who has been convicted of a crime has a better life than the average Joe who is trying hard to make ends meet…? I just don’t know.

We have stepped over some line and it doesn’t look like we have figured it out yet. This post started out to be satirical in nature, but, like other things in life, it has a mind of its own and grew to something else.

I can’t say that I am sorry. I really am passionate about some of the dumb things we have decided to do in the US. However, I know that others feel just as passionate about some of those “dumb” things, so I will still hope that we have “free speech” and I can continue to rant.

Is it going to come to this?

“I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Voltaire

Nice thought – I bet someone would argue with it…

Namaste,
Scott