The Death of Common Sense
I received this in an email, with no author credited, and claim no original ownership but wanted to share the story as it seems to be very illustrative of the world we sometimes find ourselves in
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who was with us for many years.
No one knows how old Common Sense was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
Common Sense will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain
- Why the early bird gets the work
- Life isn't always fair
- And maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by a simple, sound financial outlook - don't spend more than you can earn and believed that adults, not children are in charge.
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place, resulting in a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
Common Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 cousins I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm a Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized Common Sense was gone. If you still remember Common Sense, please share a remembrance. If not, do nothing.
This has been floating around the internets for five years or so. Probably a lot longer than that.
Cute, interesting, and with a bit of truth.
But then again, common sense is what the person contemplating a problem thinks it is at the time the problem is happening.
N M
That common sense varies from person to person and its application varies in different situations is certainly true. Thanks for the perspective
The definition of common sense is not that it varies from person to person Robert that is why it is called common sense.
Common senseis a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge things, which is shared by ("common to") nearly all people
How things are perceived is affected by many things national origin, ethnicity, religion, location, etc and thus common sense is different for different people
Dean,
Take any good ol city boy on out to the real backwoods and see how much common sense he has in that environment.
Take a good ol backwoods boy deep into the concrete jungle and see how much "Street Smarts" he has.
Common sense means different things to different people.
N M
Couldn't agree more - thanks for the perspective
Robert G
Interesting perspective, thanks for sharing it with us