Friday, November 08, 2013
That word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Entitlement, that is. As in, "entitlement society".
Oh, the tea-partiers and the Republicans are fond of throwing it around, of reminding us just how many Americans are deadbeat losers who would rather slit their wrists than go out and work for a living.
But when *I* think of "entitlement", I think of Rich David.
Rich David, a Republican and business owner, just won the mayoral election in the city in which I work.
Rich David was caught out several times violating campaign laws during the course of the campaign. Each time it was pointed out to him, he shrugged, called it an "oversight", and coughed up the fines.
A couple of weeks ago, Rich David illegally parked his Caddy outside his place of business IN A HANDICAPPED SPOT (actually, in TWO handicapped spots - he straddled the line) and left it there overnight. I don't know if anybody called him out on it or not, but if they had, I'm sure he would have shrugged, paid the fine, and gone on his merry way.
THAT, to me, is the epitome of "entitlement". A rich white guy who decides that laws are for the little people. A rich white guy who, when caught breaking the rules, just shrugs and pays the fines, because who cares? Rules don't apply to people like him, after all.
Did I mention that he won the election?
Okay, one more example. My boss, who is a fair employer and an intelligent person, is also rich and white and Republican. I had to run some errands on my lunch break the other day, and when I pulled back into the office parking lot, I noticed my boss pulling the ashtray out of his car, walking it over to one of the recycle bins, and dumping it in. For the record, if he had gone another fifteen feet, he could have dumped it into an office garbage can.
Oh, man, I could NOT keep quiet. When he came back into the office, I said, "Just so you know, cigarette butts are not recyclable."
"What," he said, straight-faced.
"I SAW you dump your ashtray into the recycle bin," I said, laughing, because I would like to keep my job, and laughter is a leveler.
"That wasn't a garbage can?," he asked, still straight-faced.
"Oh, come ON. Bright yellow, with the recycling logo on the side? No, boss. That's not a garbage can."
"Hmpf," he said. "Oh." And he continued on his way.
No, to me, "entitlement" is not some lazyass welfare mom spitting out kids so her benefits will go up, so that maybe she'll get a princely five hundred bucks a month in food stamps instead of four. "Entitlement" is people breaking campaign laws and parking illegally and dumping their shitty cigarette butts into a recycling bin. Because the rules are for the downtrodden and the little people, not for the ones who rule.
And that's all I'm gonna say about that.
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4 comments:
And the sad part is that your boss probably thought he was being really in touch with the common man when he cleaned up his own ashtray rather than having the detailer at the car wash joint do it...or one of his employees. I had a publishing job right after college where one of us unlucky newbies had to go clean out our boss's floorboards and ashtrays before he had his custody visits. "Used to be the wife's job, har har har..." Yeah, what a prize.... -- bridgett
I was just thinking of writing a similar post, although instead of entitlement, it's about the belief that other people are there to serve you. I watched 12 Years a Slave last night, and I about lost my shit when some couple left a half-full bag of popcorn on the floor so we had to stumble over it to get out, and so that some underpaid teenager would have to place it in the same trashcan that this couple could have easily put it in when they walked out. Some people think their convenience is all that matters because everyone else is on earth to make life convenient for them. Where does this come from?
I dunno, guys. I don't know what makes some people absolutely uncapable of empathy. Money, maybe. Although I do know some people with money who do a whole lot of good with it.
To me, the whole POINT of having money would be to help out others. And I know a lot of people who have very little who still give what they have.
I keep coming back to empathy. Or even sympathy. If you can look at someone in true need and not even feel a little twinge, well ...
And I won't even mention my boss ranting and raving over the Affordable Care Act, when he's been on Medicare for YEARS. Then again, I suppose he thinks he's *deserving* ...
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