Dear Elli,
I hate the word entitlement. And I hate it when people throw it around to mean anything and everything. I try my best to make sure you don't grow up thinking you are entitled to anything beyond basic human dignity. Everything else you must earn. Hopefully I will be successful in that particular parenting endeavor.
That whole paragraph sounds really weird coming from your Democrat mother, I know. Society in general sometimes makes my politics out to be communist, socialist, and sometimes even devil worship, depending upon who you ask. It's all good, though. I'm used to it. I have Nancy Pelosi to deal with. They have Sarah Palin. Every family has at least one ignorant fool.
But this whole entitlement thing goes both ways. There's a bunch of idiots running around thinking the world owes them something. Some of them are poor. And some of them are not.
We all know the classic example of entitlement today. We hear it every day. It's exhausting. Some lady with no job, 6 kids, living in the projects and collecting food stamps, with an Escalade, Gucci bag, and a new iPhone. I get it. She totally sucks. She probably breaks out the voo-doo dolls at night and forces Sarah Palin to say dumb shit.
But what about the lady who goes to work every day, pays for all her own stuff, and acts like a total asshole. Talks down to people, looks at those less fortunate with disgust and a complete lack of empathy, and conducts herself in a manner that indicates the rules don't apply to her. She feels she is entitled to special treatment, better service, more respect, less obligation. The world should really just lean down and kiss her ass. That lady sucks, too.
And I think that last lady is worse. She should know better. But I think I can sort of understand the first lady.
She's got 6 kids and no education. No chance in hell that whatever job she can get is going to pay for much more than the food her kids eat every month. And her boss probably wouldn't be too receptive to her staying home during flu season as it rips through each one of those 6 babies. Those jobs don't come with sick pay and 4 weeks of vacation. Let alone the utter lack of quality childcare options her voucher gives her. Daycare actually costs significantly more than she could ever earn. From her perspective, that job will do little more than make her life harder. She's stuck. Like between a rock and an even bigger rock.
And why does she have 6 kids? That's none of my damn business. But she got the Escalade from the "buy here pay here" lot on the corner, and the piece of shit won't start half the time. The payments are the equivalent of dealing with a Vegas loan shark, and she pays them with the "come up" money she makes doing nails and hair in her kitchen while trying to keep an eye on her kids. Her Gucci bag is a knockoff that dude down the block sold her for $20. And her iPhone was free from the jank-ass cellphone company in the hood. $50 a month, unlimited data, and her calls drop every 30 seconds if she doesn't stand right in front of a window.
Geez....I'm really freaking jealous of her. She's living the dream, baby! I think I'll quit my job, tear up my college degrees, close my bank accounts, and apply for the next open apartment in her building. I'll use my first check to buy roach killer. Right after I give the payday loan place $15 to cash the damn thing. Woo hoo! Paaarrrtttyyy!
See what I mean? That's some real shit. But that other lady I told you about? She doesn't know real shit from a hole in the wall. And she doesn't care. Because she doesn't have time. She's too busy looking down her nose at everyone. And gearing up right now to bitch about how much she pays in taxes to support the lady with 6 kids.
Because the lady with the 6 kids is living the dream. That's what she says to her friend while drinking her smoothie and having her weekly pedicure. Her kids are currently in the care of a well qualified sitter while she has her toenails painted. The life of a well-employed professional tax paying citizen is just awful. I really don't know how she does it.
I'm being dramatic. But anyone can see my point. The word entitlement gets thrown around a lot. Is the lady with 6 kids entitled to live off of the government? No. Is the lady with a job entitled to make sweeping judgements or decisions about situations she will never take the time to understand? No.
So what's the solution? Because we all seem to recognize there's a problem. I don't know. I see both sides. I see people, all of which ARE entitled to live a life of basic human decency, regardless of the decisions they've made or the situations they've found themselves in. And I see my own nauseating tax bill. And sometimes I bitch while I'm drinking my smoothie. But at the end of the day, I'm OK. Because I have a smoothie. And a tax bill. Which means I'm doing alright.
And the lady and her 6 kids have a roof over their heads. And that makes me feel good. Because I probably wouldn't sleep well at night if all those ladies and their kids were camped out in the Starbucks parking lot while I drink my smoothie. I think that would make my smoothie taste like shit. And God knows I love my smoothies.
You're smart. Maybe you will figure all this madness out some day. But before you do, make sure you really understand both sides. Because you are not entitled to form opinions from a position of ignorance. I think people forget that sometimes. Those entitled bastards.
I love you.
Mom
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