What;s Happened to Us?
OK this blog is called "Ramblings of A Mutant Penguin" and today I am not only going to ramble but rant.
What the hell has happened to us?
I often wonder how humanity defines itself now. I'm not sure we're humans in the way we were in the past. If we are "human" we are humans going downhill and it's not a slippery slope. We're falling fast, head over heels like "Jack and Jill" who went up the hill. We are definitely tumbling down.
I went to open the bottle of orange juice I had recently bought. I thought I would have a glass with lunch. There is a seal on the outside. Inside there is an aluminum foil seal over the top. I can't open my medicine bottles without pushing down and turning. Some days that is really hard when my hands hurt. This is why I do a week's worth of pills in an organizer. Less stress on the hands.
I decided to "follow" someone who was "following" me on Twitter. I get a nice little direct message saying if I am who I say I am and not a spammer, I'll go to this website and verify the fact.
I go into the bank where I have been banking a long time and know all the tellers. They make me show my driver's license.
I call for service on anything and they practically want a blood sample.
I am sure that soon I will need to provide blood, hair or some other form or DNA before I can even say "hello" to a clerk in a store or a teller at a bank.
What's happened to us?
When I was a child, yes back in the forever ago, parents knew enough to keep their medications where their child couldn't reach them. And they TOLD their children not to touch them and why and if they did, the child was punished. Not just a day without the X-Box. GROUNDED. TIME IN THE CORNER. A SPANKING.
Spanking is appropriate under certain cirmcumstances. Not beating. Geez. Even when I was a child it wasn't appropriate to BEAT your child. It is NEVER appropriate. But sometimes the only way to get the point across is a swat on the butt.
When did humankind start thinking that if someone did something wrong to you, like say you lost your job, that it was OK to put poison in medication bottles in the store? Or take a gun and go into your former place of employment and kill as many people as you could?
How did it happen that it's ok to do anything you want to anyone no matter what?
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO "DO UNTO OTHERS" AND THE GOLDEN RULE?!?
When did it happen that being polite, having manners, being respectful and loyal and hardworking and generous, when being kind and soft hearted and gentle was a sign of weakness? THAT MADE US GOOD HUMAN BEINGS!
I have a large, soft, generous heart. I give of myself, my time, my money, my being. I hold doors open for people when I am going in or out of someplace and someone is doing the opposite. I say "please" and "thank you" and "hello" and "goodbye". I ask people how they are feeling and if there is something I can do for them.
And I mean it.
And I sit here today crying about how so many people have lost their humanity.
Life would be so much better for everyone if we were more human. If we were less concerned with the "race" in "human race". And I don't mean just color. I mean the running and pushing and shoving to "get ahead".
To me there is no "getting ahead" that is worth hurting someone else.
We all die. There is no way to get around that as much as we try to pretend it won't happen to us. One day we just won't be here anymore. One day we won't wake up or we will leave for work and never come home. I make sure my bed is made and dishes done and things are as they should be because if I die someone will have to come in and sort through the junk-to-them-precious-to-me things I have collected. I have my legal things in order. OK, that's a given considering what I do for a living. But I also hope I have my soul ready.
I saw an obituary in the local paper that I loved. And so here's part of what I would like to be said of me when I die.
She has gone to a far better place where size doesn't matter, where kindness does. She is holding her daughter Shannon close in her arms and sharing a smile with her dad. She'll spend time crocheting and knitting with her Gram and Aunt Clara and Aunt Jessie. She has gone to a place where she can dance and sing and smile and where for eternity she will be surrounded by love and give love. And that was what it was all about.
What's happened to us?
What the hell has happened to us?
I often wonder how humanity defines itself now. I'm not sure we're humans in the way we were in the past. If we are "human" we are humans going downhill and it's not a slippery slope. We're falling fast, head over heels like "Jack and Jill" who went up the hill. We are definitely tumbling down.
I went to open the bottle of orange juice I had recently bought. I thought I would have a glass with lunch. There is a seal on the outside. Inside there is an aluminum foil seal over the top. I can't open my medicine bottles without pushing down and turning. Some days that is really hard when my hands hurt. This is why I do a week's worth of pills in an organizer. Less stress on the hands.
I decided to "follow" someone who was "following" me on Twitter. I get a nice little direct message saying if I am who I say I am and not a spammer, I'll go to this website and verify the fact.
I go into the bank where I have been banking a long time and know all the tellers. They make me show my driver's license.
I call for service on anything and they practically want a blood sample.
I am sure that soon I will need to provide blood, hair or some other form or DNA before I can even say "hello" to a clerk in a store or a teller at a bank.
What's happened to us?
When I was a child, yes back in the forever ago, parents knew enough to keep their medications where their child couldn't reach them. And they TOLD their children not to touch them and why and if they did, the child was punished. Not just a day without the X-Box. GROUNDED. TIME IN THE CORNER. A SPANKING.
Spanking is appropriate under certain cirmcumstances. Not beating. Geez. Even when I was a child it wasn't appropriate to BEAT your child. It is NEVER appropriate. But sometimes the only way to get the point across is a swat on the butt.
When did humankind start thinking that if someone did something wrong to you, like say you lost your job, that it was OK to put poison in medication bottles in the store? Or take a gun and go into your former place of employment and kill as many people as you could?
How did it happen that it's ok to do anything you want to anyone no matter what?
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO "DO UNTO OTHERS" AND THE GOLDEN RULE?!?
When did it happen that being polite, having manners, being respectful and loyal and hardworking and generous, when being kind and soft hearted and gentle was a sign of weakness? THAT MADE US GOOD HUMAN BEINGS!
I have a large, soft, generous heart. I give of myself, my time, my money, my being. I hold doors open for people when I am going in or out of someplace and someone is doing the opposite. I say "please" and "thank you" and "hello" and "goodbye". I ask people how they are feeling and if there is something I can do for them.
And I mean it.
And I sit here today crying about how so many people have lost their humanity.
Life would be so much better for everyone if we were more human. If we were less concerned with the "race" in "human race". And I don't mean just color. I mean the running and pushing and shoving to "get ahead".
To me there is no "getting ahead" that is worth hurting someone else.
We all die. There is no way to get around that as much as we try to pretend it won't happen to us. One day we just won't be here anymore. One day we won't wake up or we will leave for work and never come home. I make sure my bed is made and dishes done and things are as they should be because if I die someone will have to come in and sort through the junk-to-them-precious-to-me things I have collected. I have my legal things in order. OK, that's a given considering what I do for a living. But I also hope I have my soul ready.
I saw an obituary in the local paper that I loved. And so here's part of what I would like to be said of me when I die.
She has gone to a far better place where size doesn't matter, where kindness does. She is holding her daughter Shannon close in her arms and sharing a smile with her dad. She'll spend time crocheting and knitting with her Gram and Aunt Clara and Aunt Jessie. She has gone to a place where she can dance and sing and smile and where for eternity she will be surrounded by love and give love. And that was what it was all about.
What's happened to us?
posted by The Mutant Penguin Herself @ 11:29 AM
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