Bad Examples

 

1/27/2016

The Lay of the Land

By Lyn Messersmith

Bad Examples

            What kid, when chastened for a questionable behavior, hasn’t looked his/her parent in the eye and said, “Well, you cuss, (smoke, drink beer, and gossip) so why can’t I?”

            I never really wanted to grow up in the first place, because it seemed that grownups have no fun at all. Aside from having to manage money, pay taxes, earn a living, and obey laws, they can’t play hide and seek, dodge ball, or climb trees. All they do is sit around and visit about the old days and people they used to know—how boring is that? Turns out, not very boring at all, but who knew?

            Maybe that explains why I’ve still got enough kid in me to want to sass back now and then.

            Hey, Mr. President, you ask us to car pool, and drive compact cars, but how much did it cost to travel to that climate change conference, and how much air pollution is caused by Air Force One?

How does it make sense for you and the family to fly separately to Hawaii for Christmas vacation?            

We’re supposed to cut down on fossil fuel consumption, so are you using solar or ethanol to power the planes?

Does the White House have recycle bins for paper, plastic, and glass? Has the staff been instructed to buy as little as possible in plastic containers? I trust you have forbidden all bottled water and soda.

            On turning down the thermostat to save energy: do you make the family, and White House staff, wear sweaters and turn down the heat? Does it get turned up again when you entertain heads of state at a dinner party, or does someone pass out sweaters in the receiving line?

            By the way, do those state dinners follow the food plan recommended for school lunches?

            Republicans and Democrats: apparently, the game of “he started it,” and “I’m gonna tell,” are not limited to people under the age of twelve. Since you encourage compromise and civil discourse among the general public, at what level of society should that start?

            I’m eagerly awaiting the political debate where a candidate refuses to argue or engage in accusations; instead simply proposing specific solutions to every issue that is presented.

            One would assume that leaders concerned about an astronomical national debt should economize wherever possible. How many dollars would be saved by requiring members of Congress and their families to live by the same rules as normal citizens? Where is the candidate who proposes that reform?

            How come a handful of protestors in Nevada and Oregon are labeled terrorists, but hundreds of people lying in the street in the nation’s largest city, or stopping traffic on interstates, closing down businesses, looting, burning, and shooting police are not?

            It seems strange when folks who use everyday expressions are accused of hate speech, but the label isn’t applied to rioters chanting, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon.”

I guess I was right about grownups getting to make different rules for themselves than for kids. Maybe that’s only fun they have, but lately you have to wonder who the real grownups are.

When called on the matter of double standards, my mom would laughingly say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” But she didn’t really mean it; if anyone tried to play fair, it was my mother.

She, and her peers, didn’t hold much with excuses or letting anyone off the hook, either. We kids could count on hearing this line whenever a squabble was in progress.

“I don’t care who started it. I’m going to end it!”

Ok. All REAL grownups line up over here. Somebody has got to end it.