We care about our causes, and forget that not every cares, and that there are other causes.
How many times have you seen someone say something like “OMG, how could you be watching American Idol when there are chipmunks in Australia being abused.” (well, not exactly those words, but you get the point). When we see someone make a statement like that we think “OMG, I have a life, I can’t be concerned with world peace every waking moment of my life.” BUT, then when it comes around to our cause, we’re upset that people are tweeting during “national don’t tweet to save the endangered Can-Can dancers day.” WE ALL HAVE OUR CAUSES. We have to remember that not everyone believes in our causes, and that other people will have causes we don’t care about. Let’s all just be sensitive to each others causes shall we?
We like our opinions to be validated.
It cracks me up when I see people on social network or blog sites say how they pity people who care about their number of friends, followers, subscribers, etc. or making fun of someone who’s seeking blog/twitter followers. WE ALL LIKE OUR OPINIONS TO BE VALIDATED. WE ALL HOPE THAT THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE OVER THE INTERNET LISTENING TO US. The degree to which someone cares about their online social status varies, but if you REALLY didn’t care that people read your words, you’d write them in a notebook, and not online.
Sometimes we let our bias blind us.
There are people who are against our current administration in the U.S. for whatever reason, and refuse to believe anything coming from that administration can be good. The latest is the recent backlash on a change in policy that would make the food in our children's schools more healthy. People automatically say “No, the government needs to mind their business and stay out of my kids lunch” but really does that even make sense? Why in the world would a person be against healthier school meals? All the way up to college I never had the option of a salad in my school cafeteria. How absurd is that? Yes, the government shouldn't’ have their hands in everything, but if they have to be the ones to mandate a serving a fruits and vegetables being available for every meal at a school then so be it. SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO LOOK BEYOND OUR BIAS AGAINST PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS AND JUST SEE GOOD FOR GOOD.
-----------
Like this post? Share it on your twitter or facebook via the gray buttons below :-)
Agreed! I have to keep this in mind when I get passionate about things.
ReplyDeleteI often think the same when someone says something to make me feel bad about an issue we cannot control and concentrate on 24/7. I usually don't know how to respond, but the world's got its problems. We won't be able to solve them all. I think we can in our own small way just make the world a better place by first being the best person we can be and help others when we can. Just be more considerate you know?
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a lot of ways to do that other than going out like Doctors Without Borders to save the world. Take you, for example. Your job supports the arts. That's way cool and I think it's a worthy cause to contribute to.
Maybe it's because I was deprived as a kid, I never went to a school that had a cafeteria. So it's quite possible I just don't get the issue, which I don't. If you want your kids to healthy lunches why don't you just send them to school with homemade lunches instead of having them spending money on school lunches everyday? (the you's and your's are figurative)
ReplyDeleteIf so why does the gov. need to mandate what people can and cannot eat.
@Selah Beth - it probably varies by state, but in my school you didn't bring lunches, there wasn't even a place to put food if you wanted to store it. Our lunches were free for the most part, but the menu was picked by the school. So parents didn't really have control over what their kids were eating in the middle meal of the day. I can't say it was against the rules to bring food, but no one did.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I didn`t know that.It helps clear some of it up for me. But why does the federal government need to make the rule, isn't education a state issue? Couldn't the schools make their own decisions? If parents want healthy menus at the schools they could pressure the individual schools to change.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should just leave my Canadian mind out of other countries' business, sorry.
@Selah Beth - Sadly, I think the parents don't really think or don't really care about what their children are eating. In my case, I don't think I was usually asked what I ate every day (which 90% of the time was french fries). If there were more parents who cared, they themselves could put pressure on the school systems, but since no one speaks out, it seems it's taking a government hand to make a change.
ReplyDeleteThis is so very true. We all have those things that we are passionate about, but what is important is that we don't infringe on another person's rights to express their own opinions.
ReplyDeleteI used to work for a company that did not allow employees to fundraise for charities or sell products (avon, mary kay etc) to any employees inside or outside work. This was an amazing policy because as you pointed, out the causes people feel passionate about vary from person to person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve declined to contribute to a cause at my current job because 1) I can’t afford to contribute to everything 2) I don’t agree with all causes 3) I have my own causes!
ReplyDeleteI must say, I am really enjoying your blog you are quite smart and your posts are quite thought provoking.
@Harlow B - glad you are enjoying my posts!! :-D
ReplyDelete