tarnished rules
rules are sometimes stupid, like the old one where, if two
drivers came to a four-way stop at the same time,
each must wait until the other had gone
but rules are attempts to prevent chaos, to lessen anarchy
so we can live at peace
thus, we are upset and discouraged by trending attitudes of
“I can do whatever I want”
a recent clothes shopping trip where several women before me
left the clothes they didn’t want in heaps around the dressing room
or vacationers who littered and damaged their rented spot
or anger in traffic escalating into gun violence
or, at our local school, a pair of youngsters planning to beat up
a fellow student, but when a teacher intervened, beat and hurt her, too
perhaps we need to simplify and turn again
to the Golden Rule