No Excuse

There was a time in my life when I was an avid excuse maker. Now, I tend to become easily frustrated when others do the same. In the past month, I have scratched my head as I watched oil spill into the Gulf and wondered to myself, "why doesn't someone do something?" I have grown weary of men in high places making excuses instead of someone just taking responsibility and finding a solution.

This got me to thinking about our society in general, it seems to me we tend to be blame shifters. I speak from experience because as I said before, I used to be a full-fledged member. Too often when something goes wrong or someone is in need you hear, "it's not my problem, let somebody else deal with it." The spill in the Gulf reminded me of a day when I did something instead of just standing around watching the world go by.

One morning, during my bugkilling days, I was servicing a small grocery store when an opportunity presented itself. There was a little boy who wanted some milk, but had no money. Then, I overheard the clerk tell him that he couldn't help, so I asked if I could pay for it. The clerk advised against it, seeing how the child's parents were careless with their money. While I understood his position, I couldn't justify refusing the child milk. So, despite the man's suggestion I paid for the milk because it just seemed like the right thing to do. It was good to see the little boy leave with a smile and a jug of milk under his arm. I didn't solve all his problems, but for once he didn't hear, "I'm sorry, I can't help you." Instead, he saw a solution. Lame excuses don't make the cereal float in your bowl.

Obviously you or I can't fix the oil spill in the Gulf, but perhaps we can learn from it. Wouldn't we all be better off if we all spent more time applying what Elbert Hubbard once suggested, "don't make excuses, make good."

Swavel