What in the world has happened to our human race? Why is common sense a thing of the past? I can think of so many examples of common sense being thrown out the window. In particular, what has me fired up right now, if you'll pardon the pun, is the idiots in fire ban areas having campfires (non-propane) and throwing their cigarette butts out the window.
You would need to be literally living under a rock in BC to not know that the province is on fire. Even my father-in-law who lives off the grid with no power lines or cell phones knows. If you have walked outside anywhere in the province south of Prince George in the past week alone, you would have seen smoke 4 out of 7 days or more in most areas. You would have smelled it. God knows as obsessive as people are about social media these days that you would have read about it, heard it in a coffee shop, seen it on the news, heard it on a radio. There is no way that you can convince me that someone has not heard about this.
Just this morning I read an article about a fatality occurring in BC due to a cigarette butt being thrown out a window. Someone stopped, picked it up, followed them and threw the cigarette butt at the woman who had tossed it. A fight followed and one person ended up dead from hitting their head on the counter in Starbucks after being punched. Now I am not saying this is the right way to handle this situation, but I can understand the frustration behind the punch.
There have been a number of people fined for having campfires in fire ban areas. Someone was celebrating his return home to his evacuated community by getting drunk and setting off fireworks. What in the hell is wrong with people? Have we become such a selfish and entitled first world culture, that we don't even comprehend anything outside of our own perceived reality? How could anyone possibly think that having a fire right now is a good idea? I won't even use our barbecue. Not only do I not want my place going up in flames in the tinder dry conditions, but I can't imagine how I would feel if I was the cause of my neighbours losing their livestock, their homes, their livelihoods.
People are up in arms because they aren't "allowed" to ride their ATVs in the crown land. I love quadding and it is a ton of fun; it is a great way to spend a weekend. It is not worth sparking a fire and lighting a thousand hectares on fire though. Not for a couple hours of fun for me.
These kinds of selfish acts make me mad. Who never taught these people to think about someone other than themselves? Where I grew up, we were outcasts in the community due to our not being a part of the predominant religion and yet my parents and grandparents still taught us the importance of family, friends, looking out for others less fortunate, contributing to the greater good where possible, building a better community one quilt or one dinner or one small gesture at a time. Where is this message lacking these days?
I wish I had the answer, unfortunately, I truly don't know where that gap is. The fact is, we have surrounded ourselves throughout our lives with like-minded people. We have volunteered in many ways to help build stronger communities, assisted neighbours, cooked meals for busy friends and been on the receiving end as well. How can people grow up with no common sense? No sense of something bigger than themselves? So incredibly entitled?
If you have thoughts on it, I would love to hear them. My sentiment is that we have gotten too far away from the Darwinian principles. We have bubble wrapped the people who should have perished from their own stupidity long ago, and instead they are a danger to the rest of the world. If you don't know that the coffee you are ordering from Tim's is hot, you shouldn't be out on your own, you certainly shouldn't need a cup warning you about it. If you cannot comprehend that the bears on the side of the road in the national park and backcountry are WILD animals and not a backdrop for an up-close selfie, you probably deserve to get eaten by the bear. If you break into someone's house and you get shot - that is karma, that is a natural reaction of self defense - that is not someone infringing on your rights as a human being.
Every day, our news and social media feeds are full of things that some idiot has done because they are selfish and feel entitled to something which in turn has endangered them (oh darn) or endangered others, the environment or more. Instead of an $1150 fine for having a fire in a fire ban area, I think that they should have to put in 115 hours on the front lines with the firefighters. But no, that would be "too harsh".
Unfortunately, most of the entitle folks I have met, are not willing to be educated out of their selfish ways. So, now I am asking, what can we do to have a more other-ish culture going forward. The kind that takes care of our elderly, that ensures our veterans of all ages and from all combats have food and clothing, that would never consider having a fire in the midst of the worst wildfire season in over 60 years? How can we bring our children up to be other-ish, to think about the greater good, the environment, the neighbours, the animals?
I don't know if we have succeeded, but I know we have damn sure tried with our kids and we have tried to instill it in other ways through our own volunteerism and leading by example. I am in no way perfect and I have been known to be selfish on occasion, but I am always aware that my actions have a reaction and it is important that the reaction will not hurt other people, animals or the environment.
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