I generally try to stay away from being controversial. I would much rather people like me. Is that a bit sad…probably. I have taught my daughter to stand up for what she believes in (which I do as well–but in a nice way). I have taught her that it doesn’t matter what other people believe (and I don’t care, either). But she has turned out more like I wish I was. She stands up for people until there is incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. She is loyal to a fault. She is willing to listen to other sides of any story. In short, she is awesome.
But I digress…
My husband is in charge of staffing the Little League concession stand with a mix of unpaid and paid volunteers. One of the paid volunteers has done a “no call, no show” not once, but twice. She is often late. She always has an excuse, but after the last “no call…” my husband told her that we would not be needing her services any longer. She embarked on a calling campaign–calling me, my husband, the other concession stand person, and the president of Little League. She blamed everyone but herself for her problems getting there. She tried pulling the guilt card–telling everyone how her husband hasn’t worked in two years and how this “job” is what puts milk on her table. Which is where the controversy comes in. It’s not like we don’t want to help our neighbors…we do. But if you consider this a “job” (which it isn’t, really), shouldn’t you treat it like a job?
And now my really controversial thought (I hope I don’t sound holier than thou!)–I really believe that life throws us all curve balls. But how you handle them really shows your character. I think that most (if not all) of the people at the “bottom” of society in America have chances given to them–and the choices that they make keep them at the bottom. There is a bit of a victim mentality there–if you don’t recognize your own part in the problem, your life will never get better.
Anyway, my 2 cents…
