Something mildly depressing (and surprisingly long) and yet hopeful: Today I had to go to Walmart (even though I do try to stay away from that place). Walking in, a car rolled past me with a little girl in the front seat. Next to her I saw her father, smoking a cigarette...Now I'm pro-smoker's rights, but I am very much against inflicting your smoking upon children. If I choose to poison myself that's okay. It's not okay to poison little kids.
I think about this for a few minutes and then continue on my way. Later on (inside the store), I see the little girl and her father. She looked about 7 or so and her Dad looked about 26. I stopped in my tracks and looked at them as they walked away. The girl was asking her father if she could get a toy and he was shaking his head no. I looked at their clothes and noticed that while his clothes were originally pretty good (i.e. the usual Tommy Hilfiger and such) they had deteriorated to the point where you could see old stains and large rips were visible. He looked like a man that had just stopped caring.
As they turned a corner I reflected on this. I really wish I could help this little girl in some way. I can't count the number of options she's going to grow up without. The number of risks she will be exposed to that someone from a higher income bracket would never see. The likelihood of her getting pregnant at 16. The likelihood to spousal abuse and alcoholism. The likelihood that she will never really read the words of Shakespeare or think for herself. Or hell, not even that. The likelihood that she will end up in a dirty trailer with a bunch of dirty kids with a husband that doesn't love her. The likelihood that she herself will stop caring. All of this because of the man I saw walking in front of me. You really do pay for "the sins of the Father". My only hope in all this is that she can realize all of this and fight to overcome it. She can be whatever she wants to be. Her father's lack of gumption and general ambivalence and irresponsibility are not her sentence.
Maybe the Catholic belief in original sin is correct. We are all guilty and not of our own accord. From birth, the crimes and acts of our parents burden us and affect us. I see this when I look at the grim statistics that stare at me: "A child of a divorced home is more likely to have their own marriage fail.", "A child from a divorced home..." yadadada...So on and so forth endlessly repeated on a CNN 30 minute news cycle flashing at me every morning while I drink my coffee. In so many ways we are a sum of our parts. The only way to rise above this is to become better than our parents and to concentrate on the "I" that is in extra to our parts. The only path to redemption then lies in leading a virtuous life. But now I go back to the question that always perplexes me.
I think about this for a few minutes and then continue on my way. Later on (inside the store), I see the little girl and her father. She looked about 7 or so and her Dad looked about 26. I stopped in my tracks and looked at them as they walked away. The girl was asking her father if she could get a toy and he was shaking his head no. I looked at their clothes and noticed that while his clothes were originally pretty good (i.e. the usual Tommy Hilfiger and such) they had deteriorated to the point where you could see old stains and large rips were visible. He looked like a man that had just stopped caring.
As they turned a corner I reflected on this. I really wish I could help this little girl in some way. I can't count the number of options she's going to grow up without. The number of risks she will be exposed to that someone from a higher income bracket would never see. The likelihood of her getting pregnant at 16. The likelihood to spousal abuse and alcoholism. The likelihood that she will never really read the words of Shakespeare or think for herself. Or hell, not even that. The likelihood that she will end up in a dirty trailer with a bunch of dirty kids with a husband that doesn't love her. The likelihood that she herself will stop caring. All of this because of the man I saw walking in front of me. You really do pay for "the sins of the Father". My only hope in all this is that she can realize all of this and fight to overcome it. She can be whatever she wants to be. Her father's lack of gumption and general ambivalence and irresponsibility are not her sentence.
Maybe the Catholic belief in original sin is correct. We are all guilty and not of our own accord. From birth, the crimes and acts of our parents burden us and affect us. I see this when I look at the grim statistics that stare at me: "A child of a divorced home is more likely to have their own marriage fail.", "A child from a divorced home..." yadadada...So on and so forth endlessly repeated on a CNN 30 minute news cycle flashing at me every morning while I drink my coffee. In so many ways we are a sum of our parts. The only way to rise above this is to become better than our parents and to concentrate on the "I" that is in extra to our parts. The only path to redemption then lies in leading a virtuous life. But now I go back to the question that always perplexes me.
