Responsible or Entitled?

We’ve all probably seen it, maybe even dealt with it….someone who thinks they deserve something without the effort of earning it. From my earliest memories, I recall some who were given things I would have liked to have had, but my parents said, "We can’t afford it." Later on, their mantra was, “If you want it, work for it.”

After watching the London youth-led riots and our own flash mob thieves, it seems the old rules no longer apply. If you aren’t given something, go ahead and take it. There’s a creepy sense of entitlement brewing in younger and younger kids. Certainly not all kids—but enough to take notice.

These thoughts took me back to my failed farm days when we were nearly as poor as the people we had working for us. No one had extra money and no one wasted it either. We worked from the time it got light until we collapsed in bed at night.

I’ll always remember Earl and Betty. They were married with kids and they traveled to farms during the summers and fall to earn a living. They slept in their van and cooked on a portable grill. They worked hard and laughed at the idea they would ever work their way out of where they were—but they were willing to try.

Our workers didn’t line up for subsidies or handouts. They just grabbed buckets and picked berries. A hard days work. But I wonder if it would be different today. After all, that was almost thirty years ago.

I’ve seen a shift that places responsibility not on our own shoulders but on government’s. With it comes the inevitable feeling of entitlement that says, I deserve it….now. No need to pick up a bucket and work.

I don’t have a great feeling about where this ends. While those farm days were hard work, they also left us feeling like we’d done all we could. All entitlement does is make one feel that what is given is never enough.

Alyse circa 1984

Some people need to learn how to pick up a bucket and go to work.