Selfishness - The "Mine" Virus

http://redeemed.kansascitybob.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Wow, what a ride!  Just when I think I've written about everything that's wrong with this big ol' free (or so they say....whoever THEY are) country of ours, well, I think of about 20 more.  Call it writer's security, s'pose.

The big sin o' the day?  How's about all this rampant selfishness we enjoy daily, hmmmm????

You may just be a wonderin' what the hell I'm talkin' 'bout.  Well, we wouldn't wanna leave any of you in the dark, surely.  Not that you don't have a clue what I'm speaking of.  If anybody knows, you just have to.

One thing I remember loving about your average 2-3 yr. old was the MINE phase.  I don't care what it was they had in those itty bitty hands of theirs, if you tried to take it from them, their little hands went into the air, opening and closing their fingers, and the word MINE (oftentimes MINE, MINE, MINE) became a word we all cringed at.

I'm not truly sure why we would cringe at it.  This is the new most used thought, and sometimes new most thought ideal in this day and age.  Possessiveness is the new rage in our country, concerning just about every possession we own.  Sometimes, even the ones we don't.

Here's the one I love the most though.  Losing things.  And never in life seeing hide nor hair of them again, in our lifetimes.  You want to know why that is?  Has anyone noticed this, perchance?  Lose something.  Then wait, while it never comes into play in your existence...waited long enough?  Give it up pal, it's not coming back, I promise you.  Nobody's planning to write you to tell you where it is, no one's going to call your friends to see if they can locate the owner of your cell phone, and no one's going to Fed-Ex you your wallet, knowing full well you're going to need the stuff in it.  And you can most certainly count on the fact that it's not likely any one will take it to the coffeeshop cashier and say "Hey, I think someone may have left this behind accidently."  And even if they would, it's probably not likely that the employee will take it to his boss and say "Put this iPad in the lost and found, wouldja?'

The reason?  Because when someone sees something lying around that possibly has any value...just about anything now-a-days, it's "Hey look!  A free wallet!  It must be MINE!"  This is our new take on found objects.  Screw the other guy, I lost mine, and no one ever brought mine to me, why should I do it?  Nobody ever turns my stuff in for me to come back and get, to Hell with THIS guy!

How do I know this?  Let's start with the bus system in my state, the one I've been riding on and off for over 35 years.  I'm a bit on the ADD side...oh Hell, I'm MASSIVELY on the ADD side...so I'm forever leaving things on the bus.  You know how much of it I've seen in the lost and found?  One thing.  One crappy pair of reading glasses.  They must not have been able to sell them, or must not have needed them.  That was a one-time lucky break.  The countless gloves, hats, phones, chargers, wallets, notebooks, school books, sunglasses, pills, umbrellas...you name it...I've never seen any of those things again.  The "MINE" virus spreads once again...

I remember getting on one bus once, and a guy got up and his cell phone got left.  I remember a girl picking it up...she was around 22 or so.  I said "Hey, I think that belonged to that guy that just got off", to which she replied "Oh, yeah, I was gonna give it to the bus driver when I got off."  She put it down beside her, and when we arrived at the main station, she whizzed right by the driver, and didn't go inside the station, but jetted off in a direction to the east of it.  I yelled after her, only to be answered by her back and her silence.  Nice.

We're not talking about Chicago here for chrissakes...we're talking about a mid-sized city in Iowa; one that shouldn't have too many infected people where this whopper is concerned.  And God forbid I should leave a computer or something, oh HELL no.  That one I will guarantee I'll never see again; unless of course I visit the local pawn shops in the next month.  Wow.

Here's what you can pretty much count on happening to your lost objects today, as compared to yester-year, when honesty was a way of life, and the honor system was taught in your schools...

Wallets/Purses - Cleaned out for whatever cash or useful items there are in them and then thrown away. Credit/debit cards are used for gas and for credit purchases, until they're called in and rendered useless. Bus passes, punch cards...anything that can be sold or used without consequence are kept.

Briefcases - Same thing

Sunglasses/reading classes - Sunglasses, if they're cool, are moved directly from where they're found to the top of the finder's head.  If it's hard to tell, they may try them on, and if they don't look all that great, they're tossed till the next pair gets left behind.  Reading glasses are generally gonna get tossed.

Umbrellas - If it's a rainy day, fahgetaboutit.  It's MINE.  If it's a sunny day, it MIGHT get brought to the counter to be put in the lost and found.  If it's their color, you can forget about it as well, more than likely.

Phones - Used until they're reported stolen, then used to get on the internet utilizing the built in wi-fi.  Could be pawned or sold too, if popular enough.  If it's a coveted phone, it could feasibly be unlocked for continued use, depending on the company that serviced it.

Pills - Why, taken or sold, of course.

Gloves and hats - MINE if they're cool, TRASH if they're not.

Anything else - If valuable, pawned, sold, eaten, used; if they're not, TRASHED.

Now, I just gotta be fair here.  There are still, at the very least, 3 generations of Americans, and 100 or so good people that still turn things in.  Also, if you're a person who has, and the amount of money in the wallet doesn't exceed $1000, they probably will turn it in upon finding it.  But with nest-eggs disappearing; jobs lost more everyday, rip-offs abundant, and the government getting greedier and greedier, well, the YOURS generation is becoming more MINE-like everyday.  God forbid I should see the day everyone has the MINE virus.  What A Wonderful World This Will Be, eh?  :D