Days of Yore

"Good things come to those who wait..."

"Something worth doing is worth doing well..."

Platitudes? Maybe, but once upon a, seemingly, very long time ago, these were the sort of phrases people lived by...values they taught their children.

It seems as though we, as a society, have forgotten these types of "rules to live by."

We are in it for ourselves. What's good for me. And worse, what's good for me RIGHT NOW!

We have no patience and don't seem to have any ethics anymore either.

Sure, there are people out there possessive of the qualities that we had when we were building this country; help thy neighbor, be honest, be faithful (Semper Fidelis...Marines), work hard, be prepared (Semper Paratus...Coast Guard), be careful, do the right thing the first time, set a good example for others.

But those people are not in charge. What we get instead is a group of people with no scruples and less intelligence.

We consistently elect the worst of the worse, the bottom of the barrel. We are impressed with wealth and pop culture resumes. We look up to people who have not accomplished anything other than having gotten into the spotlight.

Mrs. Palin exemplifies this. She is an average woman of average intellect, reasonable looks and a gift of gab. She seems to act opportunistically and seems to say one thing while doing another. She doesn't seem to care at all about anyone but herself. She purported to care about Alaska and the country but ran faster than a moose at the first sign of the God Almighty dollar. And she wanted it RIGHT NOW!

The hell with waiting until the recognition was earned and then the justifiable wealth that would follow.

Imagine giving someone the Nobel Prize for something they hadn't earned yet. Oh...well...I guess we don't have to imagine that one.

Give it to me NOW! I want it NOW! I don't want to wait! I want profits from oil wells without doing proper due dilligence. I want super stardom without playing the gin joints along the way. I want to be a Senator without having learned the ropes from my elders. I want to be a war hero without EVER HAVING BEEN TO WAR (just can't let that one go...can you!?)!!!!

When will we become the adults we claim to be?

Any time soon?

Maybe we should listen to our kids. After all they are the only ones who can program a VCR.

They must know something we don't know. I think they know a lot that we don't know.

Remember the wonderful story...?

A truck gets stuck under a bridge. The experts gather and discuss the options. Dismantle the truck? Dismantle the bridge? Dismantle the road?

A kid rides up on his bike. He looks at the truck and the adults surrounding it.

He looks at the tires. He tugs on a grownup's coat. Impatiently the grownup says "what!?"

"Why don't you let some air out of the tires Mister?"

Hey BP...Hey President Obama...Hey...!

HEY!!!!!!!!!