I'm seeing a lot of crap that's irritating me recently. I don't know if it's my mood cycle or not, but it is seeming to me that maybe I might not be normal in my reactions. I see something that points out how much we live in a society of followers, and it irritates me.
An example. A friend posted this story on facebook, with her own note that it "made her cry".
"SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour."SON: "Oh! (With his head down).SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"The father was furious.DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"
SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling.SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"
SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do.
"Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.
Some things are more important."
My comment to this story was "Where the h is he working that he makes $100/hr?".
Well naturally I got admonished, and told I missed the point of the story.
No, I don't think I did. I don't think I missed the "Like and share" at the end of it, I don't think I missed the fact that there is nothing a little boy "needs" to buy with $50, I don't think I missed that this obviously made up, unrelatable parable is was written by someone who a) likely doesn't have children and has no idea how they actually behave and b) is more than likely a pompous ass who feels himself better than his peers because he makes time for his family.
I also didn't miss that this was shared originally by a car salesman, in an obvious attempt to show how caring he is to his customers, and therefore you should go buy a car from that guy. He's a family man.
Maybe I'm not normal. Maybe I should just say, oh what a sweet story, and it's so true! We really do need to take stock of our lives blah blah blah passive aggressive bull shit blah blah blah. It makes me wonder if these stories ever do make a difference to anyone reading them. Is your life so fragile that something like this would make you think and act differently?
My comment, if I left one, would probably have been identical to yours. I like good meaningful parables, however fake, but I dislike sentimental CRAP, which is what this is. And no, the people who really could do with reading this won't. So if you aren't normal, neither am I, as I agree with you on all points.
ReplyDeleteLOL. You're normal. You possess common sense, a rare and precious commodity on FB ... come to think of it? It is just a rare commodity in general these days.
ReplyDeleteI delete all stories like this....seems we are all from the same cauldron.....
ReplyDeleteNot a bad little story on its face, but when it pounds the moral at the end into you with a sledge hammer, it just blows out my bullshit meter and ruins the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteClassic advice to a writer: "If you want to send a message, call Western Union."