Head Butting Brick Walls

Yesterday on our other blog, I posted an article about my experience at the Paso Robles Downtown Park on Monday morning. I had taken Sammy down to run around and play like I normally do. Now, I’ve taken him down there dozens of times and every single time we go we walk by litter. On Monday morning though, either the litter problem had been worse than normal or I just got tired of it.

Someone shared the blog post I wrote on their Facebook page and a person proceeded to comment on that Facebook post ranting about being able to drink alcohol in the downtown park whenever they wanted to. I suspect this person either can’t read or chose not to read the actual article I wrote because the article I wrote was not about alcohol, it was about a few of the rules posted on a sign in the park.

Those rules are no dogs, no bicycles or skateboards, and no littering. There were a couple of other rules posted but these were the three I specifically mention in the article. I’ve seen each of these rules broken every single time I have ever been to the park. Again, I’m not sure why this commenter was so jacked up about drinking in the park because that’s not what was discussed.

This brings me to my points.

1) People, you need to pick up after yourselves. It is disgusting the level of freedom people feel to throw their crap anywhere they wish. Unacceptable. Grow up. Take care of your stuff, that includes YOUR trash.

2) If you are going to comment on something it’s probably a good idea to read what you are going to comment on. By not paying attention you are showing your ignorance.

3) The commenter on Facebook insinuated that because they had been here their whole life and I had not, I must not understand why they are upset about the no alcohol in the park thing without a permit. Again, it’s a rule. Obey it or not, suffer the consequences if caught, but please, comment on what was said not what you think was said. Also, if you have lived here for 20, 30, or 40 years and I have only been here for 11 years; that in NO WAY makes you more intelligent or more aware than I am. Another sign of ignorance.

I could probably go on with 4, 5, and 6 but I think I will leave that there. My other point is that Annie and I are tasked with raising this human, we call him Sammy, as you may know. For me, the biggest goal is to raise him to be respectful to himself and to others, to be respectful to property, to obey the rules but if he disagrees with one fight it the proper way (which is not on Facebook by the way), to be compassionate, and to be strong yet open minded.

In no way am I the smartest (not even close) person on the planet but just because you’re stubborn, adamant, unyielding, or unrelenting does not make you right. I’ve seen this quote going around a lot but I think people use it so they don’t have to think or be open minded: “Always stand up for what is right, even if you’re standing alone”.

What if you’re not right? What if your point or your argument lacks common sense and you’re just an idiot? Don’t you think it’s possible that we all simply have opinions on stuff and there may not be an absolute right or wrong? If so, then why spend all this time arguing, bickering, and fighting when we could just be open minded to that possibility? If I disagree with you are you going to take your ball and go home?

Wow, that was a lot of rambling, my apologies. Simply stated, let’s all just take it down a notch and pick up our own damn trash!