Look in the mirror

     I haven't posted in quite a while. I'm not sure why I'm posting now other than there is something I have been thinking a lot about and just want to get it off my chest, whether or not anyone ever reads it. Anyone who knows me is aware of my disdain for hypocrites. Maybe I am considered a hypocrite in some way unknown to me by someone who has observed me. I try really hard to be a person of integrity because I truly would never want to be someone who expected things of others that I would refuse to do.
     In that vein, I have been thinking of attitudes among children and adults that are patently unfair. If you would dislike entering a messy motel room and would complain about the filth, you should be willing to clean your own house. If you don't like cleaning, considering it below you or in some way unpleasant, you have no right to criticize others who are willing to clean, to say nothing of being a hypocrite if you prefer your surroundings clean but are unwilling to lift a finger to make them so. If you poop in the toilet, you should be willing to clean it, unless you truly don't care how dirty and smelly it gets. If you would consider neighbors' yards unsightly if they never mowed their lawn and weeds pop up everywhere, you should be willing to do yard-work. If you like wearing clean clothes, you should be willing to do laundry. If you aren't willing, or you complain about doing it hoping someone else will pity you enough to take over and do it, you are a hypocrite. If you don't like wrinkled clothes, are you willing to set up the ironing board, get out the iron, and remove the wrinkles? If you prefer eating off clean plates with clean utensils, you should be willing to wash dishes. If you like to eat, you should be willing to do whatever it takes to put food on the table: plant and weed a garden, help can or freeze produce, cook, clean up after cooking, even earn money to buy food! If you are legitimately not in a position to do anything for yourself, at least recognizing that it IS your responsibility to provide for yourself should make you more appreciative toward those who provide for you.
     In a larger sense, if you don't like the smell of garbage, are you willing to occasionally clean your garbage can so it's not quite so unpleasant for the "sanitation workers" who have to handle it? Are you willing to diligently clean recyclable glass, plastic, and metal so it doesn't make the recycling containers or center so stinky and full of bugs? Do you smile at the garbage handlers and maybe even say "thank you" once in awhile? Do you think you are somehow superior to those who take care of your garbage?
     Are you content to claim ignorance too easily so you can eat/drink/do whatever you want when you could make the effort to learn more about what's healthy for your body? Do you try to understand why laws exist or just complain when you discover one that interferes with something you want to do? Do you leave grocery carts in random places in parking lots when you are annoyed at not being able to park in a space you would prefer because there is a cart there? Do you routinely pick up things in stores then decide you don't want to purchase them and, rather than hassle putting them back where they belong, just drop them somewhere saying to yourself, "the store employees will put it back"? Do you grumble about neighbors playing really loud music that you don't like then play whatever you happen to like at whatever volume you want whatever time of day or night you want?
     I realize I am ranting. I just can't understand how people can NOT see what feeling superior to others or being ungrateful does for their own personality and, ultimately for mankind in general. There is a little kid's song that says something about "to have a friend, you must be a friend, too". Also, the old Dutch (or whatever nationality) proverb about "if you want a clean village, clean your own doorstep". There are way too many people who expect government, or Mom, or Dad, or neighbors, or store employees, teachers, somebody, ANYBODY else to do what they want done. How can you complain about how unfriendly neighbors or people at church are if You never approach Them? If YOU can't afford higher taxes, how can you justify wanting the expansion or establishment of a government program to provide something you want? If you never bother to thank God for the things He provides for you EVERY SINGLE DAY, how can you justify going to Him on your knees with tears in your eyes when your loved one may be dying or a hurricane is coming or you have lost your job? The world could be a MUCH better place if EVERYBODY took more responsibility for themselves and felt and showed more gratitude to others. I wish, I wish, I wish......