When I was a kid I shared a room with my two younger sisters. And when our room was messy, it was MESSY. You could barely see the floor, if you could see it at all. It was covered in our daily lives.. clothes, toys, papers, trash.. you name it, it was there. It didn't really bother me, I could live with it. I didn't really like having to step over trash to get to my bed, or the fact that I didn't really know what I was stepping on, but I didn't do anything about it because I wasn't the only one living in that room, and I wasn't about to clean it by myself. It's not fair for me to have to clean up after them. I should only have to clear my own mess. But when I look into my past at the floor of my bedroom I'm willing to bet I couldn't tell what was my mess, and what was theirs.
So we'd let it pile up. And figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal, why would anyone care how we lived? They didn't have to live in it. But I found out real fast the truth. I only lived in a room that belonged to my parents, and they very much cared about how I kept it, because when things were in need of repair THEY were financially responsible. If I broke something THEY had to fix it. Yikes. I can remember my moms way of forcing us to deal with our mess... she pushed everything she could find, on the floor and anywhere else, down the stairs. It all piled on itself and the mess was so bad it climbed to the middle of the stairs. If you have a set of stairs at home you'd know that most staircases have about 13 steps. And to have crap built up halfway is pretty bad. So mom told us the mess needed to be taken care of BEFORE our father got home or their would be consequences. I was raised in a home that disciplined children with spanking. Not BEATING. We were not abused, so don't go all, "Oh my that poor girl." NO. I appreciate the discipline my parents gave me because I now understand right from wrong. There was some fighting over the mess. Who made the most of it, and who needed to be the one to clean it up. Ultimately my mother made us all stay there and clean because... we all made the mess together.. didn't matter who did what, we shared the room so we shared the responsibility.
Whatever happened to accountability? Back in my youth (which wasn't that long ago) we had to answer for our discrepancy's and no one had an issue with it. Now? People can't bare to punish children when they are being bad. But let's think about this logically.. is it easier to correct a 2 year old? or a 20 year old? Wait.. let me make sure you understand.. the two year old doesn't know the difference from right or wrong, and neither does the 20 year old. Are you getting my point? It's pretty pathetic to see a 20 year old acting like a 2 year old. I've seen it.. heck, I've DONE it.. but by that time the punishment is going to be a bit more than spanking them or sitting them in time out. Yeah. It'll no longer be in the parents hands.. odds are it'll be in the government's hands. I've seen how the government takes care of juveniles and I'd seriously consider not letting your child get to that point.
There's a big mess in our country right now. And a lot of people are willing to wade around in it just so they don't have to be part of the clean-up committee.. but sooner or later someone is going to have to face the fact that the only way out is to stop walking over it, stop fighting about who did it, and start figuring out how to clean it up.
Maybe there were a lot of bad choices with finances.. maybe there were some programs that were meant to help but really just became a crutch.. but that doesn't mean it's not fixable! And I'm seriously done with the finger pointing. Seriously, shut off Fox News or NBC or whatever crap is feeding your brain and lets really find an honest way to figure things out. Imagine you're in your room as a 10 year old, having to clean up the mess, but there was a reporter on your bed telling you just what belonged to your sisters and how they are always playing on your side of the room, and they always use your stuff without asking! Please, someone punch that reporter, because telling me there's a mess doesn't help me.
This is just my opinion, and you know what they say about those right? But my thought is this country wasn't built to blame, and chastise. It was a place to escape tyranny.. and in case you don't know what tyranny is here's a reminder:
1: oppressive power <every form of tyranny over the mind of man — Thomas Jefferson>; especially : oppressive power exerted by government <the tyranny of a police state>
2a : a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state
b : the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant3: a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force <living under the tyranny of the clock — Dixon Wecter>
4: an oppressive, harsh, or unjust act : a tyrannical act<workers who had suffered tyrannies>
A long time ago settlers came here to this country to escape a King who was beating them down financially and religiously. They wanted freedom from being told what to do. So they left. Almost like a teenager or young adult finally ready to be freed from the rule of their parents.
Over the last few hundred years our country figured out that in order to function we had to set rules, and put in place safety nets in case someone needed help and couldn't fend for them self. Back then those guidelines were used for the elderly and disabled. But those two words have different meanings now.
Everything is different. We live in broken homes amidst violence and corruption almost on a daily basis. Our lives have been turned upside down for what? Freedom? Do you really think we are free? Freedom is a loose term. Sure we aren't beaten for our beliefs or speaking our mind.. we're more like that family with the gorgeous house on the corner, the perfect hedges, and tightly trimmed front lawn.. the house is filled with pictures of smiling faces.. perfect hair, shiny teeth. But take a look at their eyes. Stony and empty. That family looks great on the outside.. they put on a fantastic show.. but on the inside? Mom's a pill-popping junky, dad's sleeping with the secretary, little Johnny's blowing up mailbox's and murdering cat's while Jane's been sleeping with the whole football team. That's America. As long as we have our blu-ray and flat screens.. give me football on Sunday, and make sure dinner's ready by 5.
In my opinion we're worse than ever. We can't go a day without our electronic devices, yet we can't even take a walk to our neighbor's house to have a cup of coffee. Everyone is happy to sit in their little bubble, and then they turn on the t.v. they see murder and violence happening and they are surprised.. "Gosh, it's so crazy these things are happening" is what they say. Yet they sit back and blame whomever. It's everyone else's fault but their own.
No one's willing to pick up the first shift of cleaning because they see the size of the pile and they are intimidated. It's a big pile. I know. But it's not impossible. What I did was I started small, I began at the beginning. I took care of the obvious stuff first.. dirty laundry, trash.. and from there it was a step at a time. It took a LONG TIME. But we got it done. Proof? I'm not still cleaning that mess up. And I've been cleaning up after myself for more than 20 years and I'm very capable now.
From finances to morals to bad actions there are ways of fixing things, and stepping over the mess is not one of them. We have to face them. As a country. Do our part, and start to figure this out. Because the mess ain't gonna clean itself.
But hey, that's just my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions...
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