Telling is Trampling

I've had this thing, see, for as long as I can remember. It really pisses me off to be told to do or not do something. It can be about anything, insignificant or major, and I go immediately into fight mode. If you ask me, then I will bend over backwards to do, but tell me and you get the finger. Oh, I have tempered the visible reactions quite a bit over the years, but what I feel inside is still very much alive and well. I let it be well known what I feel and advise everyone to just ask, not tell.

If I had to boil it down, I'd have to say it's a matter of acceptance. If you accepted me for who and what I am, then you would ask. I'd know you have that basic regard for me and I would have no qualms about doing what you ask. Those that tell me what to do couldn't give a rat's ass about what I think and feel, and those are the ones that I don't accept any more than they do me. It took many years learning and practicing, but diplomacy dictates a poker face and walking through the nearest exit.

I have no idea if how I feel is shared by others. I'm curious. The evidence is inconclusive.

For example, I live in a "dry" county. The only place you can get an alcoholic beverage in this county is at a VFW or Moose Club, and not all of them, only a few. From what I can tell, the people that do indulge once in awhile drive two counties away for beer, wine, mixed drink ingredients or for a night out.

Personally, I don't care. I've had a bottle of gin in my cupboard for well over a year now, and it'll be there for years to come. But, it is there if I get a notion to have a drink.

True, I am smack-dab in the middle of the Bible Belt. There seems to be a church for every 20 people, there are so many. Wouldn't it be relatively safe to assume that, living in said Bible Belt, that people here would be more apt to be good people? At the top of my list of what it means to be "a good person" are things like honesty, respect, acceptance and nonjudgmentalism.

Taken from a different angle, I don't know that there is that much of a difference in DWI's or alcohol related fatalities in this "dry" county. I don't think so. The schools still do their DARE programs, and there are rehab programs in the county. So, what's the point in declaring it "dry"?

If I chose to go out for a night on the town, I'd have to drive an hour down to Little Rock. If I indulged too much, the risk to me and other drivers on the road has increased significantly more than if I just had to drive into my little town. Right? Just who is supposed to be protected here?

Acceptance here means joining up with those that tell others what they can and cannot do. "They" do this from the camaraderie of the congregation, from inside the church they go to every Wednesday and Sunday. As it turns out, the majority of church goers are the wealthy, well-to-do and the politicians - who snub their noses at anyone not meeting their expectations. Trust me, they all drink!

Someone commented, "if they took a vote today on this 100 year old ruling, this county would not be dry." He's probably right. The outrage over the state approving a lottery pretty much proves it. The voters voted.

You see, this hypocrisy is the one thing that I could never relate to or understand. It is never right to trample on another's free will or freedom of choice. Never. God doesn't. Somehow, I doubt that's part of the sermon. That sermon is in the trash can along with the one teaching personal responsibility.