Intolerable... I abhor society’s ocean of complacency. Complacency kills. It creates in me a self-perpetuated psychological insanity, yet few others are disturbed by it: People who consistently show no interest, enthusiasm, or dynamic sharing of other family members’ achievements, goals, expertise or mastering of any specialized hobbies or professions; family members who constantly manifest a total lack of interest in assisting other family members in their trials, tribulations, and worries – psychological, physical, or financial – yet the very same people who will streamline themselves to a phone to inform other never-heard-from family members, both near and distant, of someone’s death or approaching wedding. Little or no communication between these members has persisted for years, but for some ubiquitous reason, these same people, in some self-created saintly fashion, have to be the ones, in their previous uncaring demonic state, to now rush to the phone to make calls about a long-forgotten family member’s demise or relate someone’s approaching wedding date. Once the funeral or wedding is over, the status quo of the uncaring, unconcerned, non-communicative attitude instantly returns, and such people immediately return to their microscopic cocoon-type-living style, never to be heard from again, until another comparable occasion arises. To many psychologists, its source is unknown, but seemingly rampant: If it is a family member, other family members will not boast, advertise, or perpetuate in any way his/her achievements, or show any enthusiasm or interest in any of the family member’s accomplishments; however, if it is an unknown person – one who has little contact or knowledge of the person, the family member will be the first to unabashedly idolize, worship, defend, and boast about all the facets, real or fictitious, about such unknown people’s lives. |
I have witnessed in some families individuals who do not even manifest the courtesy of instantly acknowledging the receipt of e-mails, birthday calls and gifts, or small favors granted to make the recipient’s life a bit more comfortable. The values of common courtesy, appreciation, and thankfulness are nil. In the vile, vicious, and venomous mega-conglomerate business world, the same demonic aura remains; yet, few are disturbed by it and few will initiate any actions to combat it: Insurance companies that fail to pay on claims; financial institutions, landlords, phone companies, etc. that will pull credit reports on potential customers without the customer’s knowledge; megabuck corporations that will ignore individuals’ requests for the corporations’ financial accounting status; doctors who barely know their patients except for the five minute-reading of the patient’s chart before office visits; medical institutions that will purposely pad a patient’s bill with services and medications that were never rendered; auto mechanics who will install “after-market” parts rather than new parts, but charge the full “new-part” prices; teachers who will allow parents to scream, rave, and ultimately – and on some witnessed occasions, almost physically -- leave footprints on the teacher’s face over some incident that happened to little Johnny. The list is infinite, but the victim of such abuse is complacent – one who does nothing via the excuse, “I don’t want to cause a scene or cause trouble” or worse, “Just let it pass” – both of which serve as nothing but a euphemistic façade to camouflage an inherent fear, an inferiority complex, or a deeply-rooted, well-hidden insecurity problem. Complacency kills. Intolerable. WJK-7/09 |
