Seeing clouds from the other side reminds me that everything looks different from a different point of view. As I soared over theses clouds, existing because Hurricane Isaac was creeping up into the mid-West, I thought about those viewing the clouds from the other side. These clouds were threatening rain. From my vantage, the sun was shining, but down on the ground there was, most likely, no sunshine.
Everybody sees the world through their own eyes. And, let me tell you, as a former forensic chemist working for the Naval Investigative Service, I can tell you that eye witnesses provide the least reliable evidence for a crime solver. Everybody sees the world through their own paradigm.
I have a difficult time seeing the world through other people's eyes. In my worldview, if you want something, you work for it. In my world, saving money for the future and the possibility of a rainy day is important. I'm my view, you don't always have to have the biggest and the best and the newest. Sometimes being satisfied with what you have is a good idea. In my world, having your hand out and borrowing money from friends and family is NOT an option.
I've observed some people living in a way I cannot understand, but I'm sure, from their point of view they are doing everything the very best they can. I've seen a wife and mother of two take out a student loan of $40K to get a master's degree to promote herself in her teaching career and then quit teaching to stay home with her two children long before she is even close to paying off her debt. To me this looks greedy. She wants it all, the high priced education and the freedom to be a stay at home mom. It's difficult for me to imagine making choices like this without thinking them all the way through, but there you are.
I've watched family after family sell their tiny starter home when the housing market expanded to an unreal height and buy BRAND NEW and EXPENSIVE homes, with money they hoped they would make some day, who now find themselves living in homes that have mortgage payments of, at least, $100K more than the homes are now worth. To me this looks greedy. They weren't content to stay in their small starter home and continue to make payments they could afford. They thought they were rich and could have anything they wanted, and now they cannot pay the price.
I've associated with people who are happy to have their hand out and expect you to put money in it because they've had to take on a new job at an entry level at low pay. They've begged and borrowed money from everyone they associate with and don't mind crying "poor me" at every turn. Now they've been with the job for a while and gotten a few promotions and they are done eating beans out of a can. Now they can go out to Applebee's for lunch and dinner a couple times a week. To me this looks greedy. I can't imagine taking a family out for food this often while being a SAHM. I can't imagine not wanting to pay back everyone who was kind enough to give me money.
I've seen a family that has begged it's church for money for food and now sport brand new tattoos. Do you think they've started tithing now? No, I don't think so.
When did we turn into a nation of people with our hands out instead of inside our bootstraps? When did we turn into a nation that believes there is no need to pay back your debt? When did we turn into a nation that believes we all deserve the same things in life? When did we turn from a nation that believed that "them that don't work, don't eat" to a food stamp nation? When did we become a nation of lazy people? When did it become "normal" to be lazy?
I don't know how to look at the world through everyone's eyes, but I have seen the world through some people's eyes (thanks to the fact that they blog). We need to come up with a new word for the poor. We cannot call people in this country, for the most part, poor. We need a new word.
These people with their hands out and the "poor me" attitude need a name. They're making it more difficult for actual poor people to get the help they really need.
562. Sunshine
563. Leaves just beginning to turn colors
564. Pansies
565. Hope
