In an earlier chapter of my life I was married to a man whose parents had met in high school. Like many teens, their libidos ruled and there was no easy access to birth control in those days. Eventually they learned she was pregnant and their families supported them by permitting them to marry. In those days pregnant girls(even if married) did not attend school, so she earned her GED while he went on to graduate. The cards were stacked against them but they managed and both went to college, even as their family grew to include three kids by the mid 1950s.
They earned decent money and once all their kids had gone on to their own adult lives, they celebrated by buying a large house for huge family gatherings and they also got to travel. They were, by all measures, successful and living the American Dream.
I married one of those kids and found my in-laws to be a bundle of contradictions. They were surface loving and underneath judgmental. Once, my mother-in-law asked me if I wanted this or that for dinner and not being a fan of one, I said I would enjoy the other. I got a sour face and was told she wanted to make the first. I thought, but didn’t ask, why she had bothered to ask me my opinion. Okay, you get the picture.
But they were very giving. They purchased tons of things for their children and grandchildren. If it was needed, or even just whined for, it was soon made available.
Money was easy
Ethical behavior was not.
So, we all probably know someone like that. They give a gift…with strings attached. They do a favor for you once and you hear about it for years. If they are an acquaintance, you can distance yourself. If they are family, you can’t.
And if it is your President Elect, you certainly can not turn a blind eye hoping things will improve. The man is who he is. It is easier for him to pay out 25 million dollars than admit he has been part of a fraudulent activity to take people’s money by offering them less than promised and purchased.
Think about it: 25 million dollars is chump change.
We’re only starting here, folks. Be vigilant…and ready to act.
By the way, I am NOT saying all people who have money are unethical. There are poor people who are unethical. Middle income people who are unethical. All kinds of people with all kinds of money have all kinds of ethics.
I’m just saying I have seen this before, and it never improves. You’ve seen it too.
goingplaceslivinglife 