I am speaking of the type of person that feels that just because they can do something (or more specifically that they can get away with doing something), they will go ahead and do it. And I'm not talking about a fat guy wearing a speedo or an insecure woman getting too much cosmetic surgery. Granted they are both cases of bad judgement but they don't really affect other people (other than catching a glimpse of the "bad judgement" and at least at that point one can avert their eyes {but then again, sometimes it does have that car wreck quality where you find yourself staring in disbelief}). But I digress. What I am talking about is stuff that does affect other people. Directly. Stuff like working the system for unemployment/welfare/medicaid, or shoplifting, or even parking in a fire lane or handicapped spot. Some people seem to feel like these are victimless acts like jay walking or smoking pot. Most people know better.
Maybe people that bend or break the rules and scam the system to obtain social assistance of any kind feel entitled or that no one will be hurt by them taking their little slice of the pie. The regulations are there for a reason, so their entitlement is misplaced. And clearly if they weren't taking "their little slice" there would be more pie for those who truly need/deserve it. Then, if you multiply by the number of people scamming the systems it is no longer a little slice, but now a big slice of a pie that otherwise wouldn't need to be so big. In other words the rest of us may not have to pay in quite so much because we wouldn't be feeding scammers.
Maybe people that shoplift feel entitled to steal thinking "This company is so big and wealthy they won't miss it, plus they've been getting rich on people like me", or "If this store is so lame they can't catch me they deserve to get ripped off.", or "Who is this really going to hurt?". For large companies it hurts plenty of people: stockholders who are not necessarily rich don't get their due profits or dividends, employees who may miss bonuses, promotions or worse... get fired, and even the wealthy upper management-these people who have worked hard deserve their fair share even if they are already well off. And for a small operator it is even more keenly felt. I own a store and when someone steals from me obviously it affects my profits, my income, and by extension my family. I have given serious consideration to putting up signs stating that if you steal from me you are stealing from my children, haven't yet but it is true. Trust me, I notice when something is missing, and it does hurt. Not just my bottom line either, I have a definite sense of being violated when someone has stolen from me. And big or small, it is difficult to completely eliminate theft so a store must include "shrinkage" into the budget, meaning that in the end, just like with social assistance, we all end up paying a bit more in the form of higher prices.
The parking example may seem harmless and inconsequential, but it's not (plus it is admittedly a huge pet peeve). Whether in the handicapped spot or in the Fire Lane, rarely is the car there for the "quick" moment or two imagined by the transgressor. To be honest, has a building ever burned to the ground because there was a car parked in the Fire Lane? Probably not. And I am sure it is quite rare that a handicapped person or their driver was unable to park because an able person took their spot. But this comes down to common decency-"my convenience is more important than your inconvenience". It is inconvenient for a person to have to circle a lot until a designated spot opens. And it is inconvenient and unsafe when people have to hop curbs, squeeze between bushes, snowbanks etc. or have to navigate around parked vehicles in what is typically a busy area like a fire lane.
Is it a sense of entitlement, feeling they are above the law/rules, or just a general sense of superiority?
Where I live, it often seems like all of the above.
Or maybe it's just a brain fart, kinda silent but deadly, and it still stinks.
So is it OK to be a little judgemental? Especially when, like in this case, it's not about judging between better (me) and worse (them) but about right (me) and wrong (them). Maybe that's just semantics. But who's to judge?
Peace to the WHOLE Planet...
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