Philosophy and Bitterness: A Bedtime Story

Yeah, so it's 12:45am, and I'm not in bed asleep.  I should be, since I've got a demanding day tomorrow, but oh, well...

See, I'm up because I get so annoyed with people who always ask why.  Obviously not my sweet, three-year-old niece Sammie who's going through that stage.  But with grown ups.  Anything difficult happens, and they curl up in the fetal position, suck their thumbs and say, "Why did this happen to me?"  Implying, of course, that they didn't deserve it.  If you're one of these people, I've got no time for you.

The way I figure it is: if you're going to ask why something happened to you, you've also got to ask why it shouldn't have happened to you.  Or who should it have happened to.  (Sorry mama, of course I meant "to whom should it have happened".)

You can't ask why without asking why not.

I also want an honest answer: did this really happen to you, or because of you?

These tend to be the same people who ask why do bad things happen to good people?  My mathematical brain then goes down this train of thought:

If bad things happen to good people, then it also follows that good things happen to bad people.  So I've established that there's good and bad people, and good and bad things.  The next step is to reason that good things must also happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.  So whether you're good or bad, good and bad things are going to happen to you.

When anything happens to you, what kind of person were you?  Good or bad?

Why doesn't anyone ever look at something good that happens to them and ask if they really deserve it?  Why is it only the bad that we don't deserve?

Anyway, this early, early morning rambling is really a warning: don't come whining to me about something bad happening to you.  I'm gonna want an honest answer about whether you're a good people or a bad people.  Don't get me wrong--you can cry on my shoulder.  I'm just gonna be real with you in return.

Now, my baby is crying.  I'll self analyze and tell you that he's one of the best things, and it happened to someone who's neither good nor bad.  Or perhaps both.  Either way, it's time to make up a bottle.