What's the Worst Thing You Could Do?
To paraphrase that song from "Grease", I've come up with some pretty awful things that someone can do to upset me. There are a number of them, and here's a short list:
1. Disrespect for someone else's feelings.
This is just plain cruel, and so unnecessary.
2. Disrespect for the rules.
You know the rules, whether you want to admit it or not, and if you break them, you have to pay the price for doing so.
3. Disrespect for your elders.
I know some people, kids, adults, really all ages, who simply cannot treat the elderly, or those older than them, with a shred of decency. I look at it this way: they've lived on this planet, and fricking survived this long, the least you can do is give them a little credit for that. And besides, since they've lived longer than you, maybe they might just possibly know a little bit more than you?
4. Referring back to #2, disrespect for the LAW.
Ignorance really IS no excuse. Was I, or was I not, speeding? Wearing my seat belt? Driving with an expired plate? Beating on my spouse/partner? Stealing from that store? Robbing that bank? If you do something illegal, 1) you deserve to get caught and 2) if you are caught, you deserve the full punishment under the law. Period. (And some of my high school friends, if they read this, would freak right out at my words. But age has a tendency to teach you one thing, if nothing else: responsibility.)
But the WORST, I think, of these five things is this:
5. Blatantly lying about something.
I could deal if you did any of the first four. I see it all the time at work. You work in an office full of people, one or another is going to have a bad day, and sometimes #1 happens. #2 and #4 happen all the time (kids busted at school for breaking the rules; people breaking the law). With domestic violence cases, sometimes it's a kid who's pounding on a parent, or grandparent. Sad, but it happens. And the law is supposed to do its thing. But the ultimate form of disrespect has got to be a bald-faced lie. It's like slapping somebody across the face and saying, "You're too stupid/old/useless to deserve the truth." It can't be said any more plainly that this: DON'T FRICKING LIE TO ME!!! Whether you think so or not, I'm worth more than that!
I list below the words of some greater minds than I; God knows they say it better than I ever could!
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil. PLATO
We tell lies when we are afraid, ... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. TED WILLIAMS, American baseball player
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives. MARK TWAIN
Okay, down of my soapbox now. Later!
1. Disrespect for someone else's feelings.
This is just plain cruel, and so unnecessary.
2. Disrespect for the rules.
You know the rules, whether you want to admit it or not, and if you break them, you have to pay the price for doing so.
3. Disrespect for your elders.
I know some people, kids, adults, really all ages, who simply cannot treat the elderly, or those older than them, with a shred of decency. I look at it this way: they've lived on this planet, and fricking survived this long, the least you can do is give them a little credit for that. And besides, since they've lived longer than you, maybe they might just possibly know a little bit more than you?
4. Referring back to #2, disrespect for the LAW.
Ignorance really IS no excuse. Was I, or was I not, speeding? Wearing my seat belt? Driving with an expired plate? Beating on my spouse/partner? Stealing from that store? Robbing that bank? If you do something illegal, 1) you deserve to get caught and 2) if you are caught, you deserve the full punishment under the law. Period. (And some of my high school friends, if they read this, would freak right out at my words. But age has a tendency to teach you one thing, if nothing else: responsibility.)
But the WORST, I think, of these five things is this:
5. Blatantly lying about something.
I could deal if you did any of the first four. I see it all the time at work. You work in an office full of people, one or another is going to have a bad day, and sometimes #1 happens. #2 and #4 happen all the time (kids busted at school for breaking the rules; people breaking the law). With domestic violence cases, sometimes it's a kid who's pounding on a parent, or grandparent. Sad, but it happens. And the law is supposed to do its thing. But the ultimate form of disrespect has got to be a bald-faced lie. It's like slapping somebody across the face and saying, "You're too stupid/old/useless to deserve the truth." It can't be said any more plainly that this: DON'T FRICKING LIE TO ME!!! Whether you think so or not, I'm worth more than that!
I list below the words of some greater minds than I; God knows they say it better than I ever could!
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil. PLATO
We tell lies when we are afraid, ... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. TED WILLIAMS, American baseball player
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives. MARK TWAIN
Okay, down of my soapbox now. Later!