Golden Rule
I grew up under the heavy weight of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
Remember that one? We learned that sweet little nugget in Sunday school 101. If you think about it, the Golden Rule basically sums up most of the Ten Commandments. No one likes being lied to or to have our things stolen (so don’t lie or steal!). We certainly don’t want to be murdered (so don’t murder!). As a parent, we don’t want to be sassed (so don’t talk back to your parents!). We don’t want to be cheated on (so don’t cheat!). I think you get the picture.
The problem is–and has been–that when you put it into action, not everyone responds they way that they should You see, when you “do unto others” as you would like them to do unto you, they often see this as the big green light to take advantage of you. In fact, I remember hearing a certain person who shall not be named screaming the Golden Rule at me when I was little and I remember thinking “Gee, I’m doing unto YOU what I’d like you to do unto ME, but you’re clearly just taking that and running with it!” I tried to tattle tell on her, but I wasn’t articulate enough for my mother to get what I was saying at the time.
(Side note: Fast forward a few years and two weeks spent at an awesome summer logic camp and believe you me, THAT would never happen again.)
That’s the problem today. A lot of people are expecting other people to do unto THEM what they would like to have done but they don’t give a rat’s batooey about doing anything nice for other people. It’s all about what’s in it for me? Uh, sorry. That’s not what the Golden Rule is about. And this is what leads us to the core problem: There is genuinely a lack of kindness in the world anymore and it really hurts my heart.
Trenton Animal Hospital
Yesterday, I was teaching and I heard a terrible story from one of my students. This quarter, she’s been really sick thanks to good ole COVID. Not only that, she’s had complication from it. To make matters worse, she’s in her final quarter of her program as a vet technician (which, if you didn’t know, is basically a nurse for animals!!! I didn’t know that and I think it’s important to share that information…I super proud of these students!). Because she was sick and in the hospital, she could not make it to her externship–which is basically unpaid work at a veterinarian office. THEY FIRED HER and now she cannot graduate. They told her she is unreliable.
Think about that: Unreliable.
She’s unpaid. Working for free. Sick with COVID. In the hospital. And they FIRED HER.
Now she cannot graduate.
And the Department Chair at the college has the authority to possibly kick her out. Of the entire program. At the very last quarter. No degree.
Yes. That was my reaction, too. After the horrible week that I had, I was completely stunned and speechless. I couldn’t even think. I tried to remained composed and not say anything because this is, after all, my employer. I cannot fight the battle for her, but I cannot let someone sink in a mire of injustice due to people just breaking the Golden Rule into thirty million pieces because, frankly, they just don’t care.
I made a few calls and stopped in at the veterinarian clinic that I use for my bazillion rescue and personal animals. I explained the situation and they will do their best to help the young woman IF the school doesn’t kick her out. THAT is an example of kindness, btw.
But let’s go back to the first veterinarian clinic. What they did to this student is just one example among a million of how so many people just don’t care anymore. There is a genuine lack of kindness in the world. People are so focused on the ME that they have forgotten about the WE. The people at the Trenton Animal Hospital showed absolutely no compassion for this young woman. They have showed her not one iota of kindness, especially during a pandemic…especially given the complications she legitimately had that landed her into the hospital. They can continue working and earning a living without nary another thought about how their lack of consideration has potentially ruined her future.
And this is happening everywhere.
Price-Less
There is an author who has stolen my name. Not just my last name but my entire name. She advertises on Amazon using my name so that anytime anyone types in my name, HER books show up. She’s not a particularly good writer, but she sells an awful lot of books anymore. Books that people think are my books. Amazon cannot do anything about it legally, which I think stinks but I’ll leave that alone for now. Money has motivated her to ruin my career and my book sales. I get comments online all the time from people about how much they loved my book {insert her book title} and I want to scream. I’ve read her sneak previews and they aren’t even written well. Her author photo is a shutter stock image or whatever they call it. I know who she is…she even registered her name as a company…in FLORIDA, too!…so that she can accept checks as if she is a real person. It just makes me sick, the level of deception this psychopath has gone to in order to trick people.
But, hey, I won’t complain too much because I know that this terrible person is not a good Christian and she will have to answer to God. I also believe that excessively pursuing money is basically worshiping Satan so I can see where she will be spending eternity. People who lust after money to the point that they are lying, stealing, tricking are sinners. She is worshiping the devil, not God. It’s no different than people who lust after free things…free education, free housing, free {fill in the blank}. Give me the goods but don’t make me pay. What they don’t realize is that someone has to pay. They just don’t care. It’s a smash and grab…looting…but of a different nature.
This is just another sign of where our society is headed. It’s all about ME, not the WE.
But that’s not the way it should be.
The bottomline is that kindness is the glue that holds a society together. We need kindness. We need people who care. People who show kindness are so far and few between. If you find them, thank them profusely. If you are one, God bless you. We need more people like you. Take a moment to smile at a stranger, hold the door open, be generous with a tip for your server, reach out to an old friend, volunteer at a shelter, anything that shows you care about someone or something besides yourself. Stand up for injustice. Speak up for unfairness. It matters. YOU matter. WE matter. KINDNESS MATTERS.
Challenge: Do something extraordinary in the weeks ahead. And recruit others to do the same. Make kindness contagious. And when others are being unkind, call them out. But don’t put yourself in harm’s way. We need you here. *I* need you here. <3