The Small Stuff

After an unfortunate glance into the delusional lifestyle and attitude of the young, wealthy and entitled, I'm delighted to say I'm officially 'over it.' I whine, bitch, and moan when some jackass robs or cheats me and then I use it as an excuse to avoid responsibility..."that guy has lied and cheated, and as a result, I am less accountable for my actions - after all, how can I be accountable? He's not playing by the rules?" I get angry and unruly, and accept the role of the victim, which helps me justify my bad behavior. This same logic drives people to perpetuate injustice in the first place. Is there ever an end to this cycle? What happens when the usually-innocuous knee-jerk inclination to lie or cheat has real consequences?

However many times I've seen the cheater win, I can't seem to escape this anger when it is shoved in my face. How are we supposed to watch idly as others gleefully and repeatedly trounce on the honest with utter disregard for justice; then, watch them excuse themselves (or taunt and mock when provoked) because they have trained their minds to fabricate false truths so easily in order to preserve the illusion of self-worth. "I live on the lake and drove my dad's million dollar yacht over here. You expect me to play by the same rules as your dumb-asses?"

Upon being afflicted with such bullshit (albeit of the relatively innocuous type), how do I delude myself into believing I am not the victim? Isn't this type of delusion just as bad as the type convincing the "entitled" that their self-preserving fabrications are valid?

I think accepting that one is not a victim requires a value judgment about relative utility...what good can come from being pissed-off? Instead, why not acknowledge the danger of such behavior and respond in an effective, cathartic, yet non-destructive way? Well, that takes effort. That takes recognizing the devil for what it is, and immediately forgiving and forgetting, allowing the perpetrator to believe he/she has won, and that their behavior was justified because there were no consequences. Sick and twisted still, but the lesser of evils.

I think discussing abhorrent behavior in conditions that are consequential helps put things in perspective. "Charles" was the disturbing result...just a reminder (to myself) not to sweat the small stuff.