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FindingUncommonSense

Guess I am getting old and crochety! I sure am tired of picking up other people's trash! George

Sour Grapes and Saddle Soress

George Hirst

Finding Uncommon Sense April 10,2008

We struggle in our times with society's attitudes that approve of drinking alcoholic beverages in excess, ignoring traffic speed signs, other traffic safety measures and, the abuse of drugs. There is the matter of passing legislation that benefits a privileged few instead of supporting the costs of public life, the oldest attitude of all, that of hating taxation that benefits us all.

The biggest problem is that we tend to live by our own words and deeds. The other day I was headed out to get the mail (we live on the very south edge of Wyoming), a pick up truck was coming into town, and just about the time it got front of me, the driver rolled down his window,and threw out an apple core that landed right at my feet. I don't think he was mad at me, he was getting rid of an apple core. He probably didn't even see me, or think about what he was doing. I pick up all sorts of trash that is thrown out of cars and trucks, from paper cups to whatever and frankly, it is not a good thing nor is it good for the environment. As I drive along our highways, I often see large pieces of plastic blowing in the fields. That plastic does two things, first and most importantly, it clutters up the field so that the farmer has to deal with it when he works in the field and secondly, it does absolutely nothing for the environment. Trash belongs in trash containers, not in the part of our world that is "outside" our world. The worst part of that commentary is that it is only one small way in which we do damage to our world. Sadly, we don't even think about the world except in terms of the space we occupy at the moment.

We are more level-headed than that, we know better than that, but we keep abusing the environment without thinking about the damage we do, without wondering why it is that we don't have peaceful lives. I have been calling the things we ought to be doing, like keeping the speeding laws, like doing all things in moderation, and like putting other people's lives and ways before our own, common sense. It is not, it is uncommon sense. There is a huge universe out there and it must be respected. Not only do other people use the roads we clutter up, there are also people who live beside the roads we treat as wastebaskets. Uncommon sense needs to tell us that there are no empty spaces.

Another way to think about developing an uncommon sense it to remember that the space we occupy is only "rented". That is, there are people who lived where we live before us and people who will live in that space after we move on. What I am saying is that the life you live is not about you, it is about people around you, it is about people you never get to know or see.

Occupiers of this small planet of ours have been abusing it for a long time.The American Indian left their marks on the land in Illinois by living in an area until was cluttered, then moving on to a new area. The circles where they lived are visible from the air. That habit has been found by archaeological folks from then till now. We don't leave an area cleaner than we it was when we moved in, we expect others to clean up after us. We are clutterers of a long history. You must know that we do the same thing with the words we speak and, the things we do to others. I see signs of the arrival of uncommon sense and I am glad, but I also see the mistreatment of our planet that leaves a bad mark.

SourGrapesAndSaddleSores
Created by KKris. Last Modification: Friday 11 of April, 2008 10:24:46 EDT by KKris.