photo: phill deason
© 2009
in response to the farewell prompt at One Single Impression
***
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who lived among us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was; his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He 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 worm
- Life isn't always fair
- Maybe it was my fault
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of
- A 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate
- Teenagers suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch
- 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. His well-being 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 took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault and finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, spilled a little in her lap, promptly sued and was awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by
- his parents, Truth and Trust
- his wife, Discretion
- his daughter, Responsibility
- his son, Reason
- I Know My Rights
- I Want It Now
- Someone Else Is To Blame
- I'm A Victim
If you still remember him, tell people; if not, join the majority and do nothing.
37 comments:
I have mourned the loss of Common Sense for years, Mandy. Don't be surprised if you see some comments from unknown persons. I intend to pass this one around.
God bless,
Annie
Hello. I'm one of the people that got Annie's forward.
This is very well-written and makes excellent points.
Hi - Annie sent me and I'm so glad she did! We need to take a step back from this overly litigious and politally correct age in which we live and remind ourselves about the things that really matter.
I had no idea. I thought he'd been dead for years.
Absolutely, spot-on! Is there any way to resurrect the old boy??
Meant to leave my blog url and tell you, I'm linking to this!
fitting...
So true and so profound!
Thanks to Annie I found my way here and will be sharing this link with others.
Aileen~
otm@outsidethemargins.com
yes, the world has gone mad
Annie sent me :)
Very well said.
It's up to each and everyone of us to bring our friend back to life!
I'm here through Annie. I, too, mourn the loss.
Thanks to Annie for sending me this way as I too have deep sorrow in my heart for the loss of Common Sense!
POWERFUL! He has been gone awhile but he left a few good memories.
Anne sent me ... right on the money! So, now what?
Here via Annie...
Common Sense will live on forever in the wide and diverse circle of friends who knew and loved him well... and his blood flows strong in the veins of all of us who claim him in the lineage of our vibrant family tree that blooms even now as he takes his place in the stars...
Annie sent me too.
we seem to be a lot of mourners at this funeral.
Hopefully there's still hope of a life after death for Common Sense.
From Felisol
I am indeed shocked! I thought Common Sense committed suicide when I was a child .. I am sorry for OUR lost.
Very good post.
Great post. All of us need to read it.
washed by words
So glad i stopped by this morning. I too will share this with others. Thank you!
What a tremendous turnout. With so many people morning the loss, perhaps there is hope. I, for one, will make that pledge to continue to show the example of keeping common sense in my life and in my heart. And, when given the opportunity, I'll tell others when they are NOT using common sense. Sometimes all it takes is not being quiet when people are being foolish in a public way.
This post is so perfectly clever! I just loved it and the absolute truth it had to tell. Wonderful...thank you. :~)
In my family we took to calling it Rare Sense, since it had not been all that common for a long time. RIP.
This is wonderful and a great take on farewell. So so sad about common sense. Thank goodness for reincarnation~ We need 'sense' back.
I read this Obit quite a while back and was not surprised when I heard his sibbling named None Sense was running the family business these days.
Their daddy called Horse Sense passed along some good genes to some of the Senses.
What a great loss! Maybe some of his gene pool has survived and we can work on a kind of resurrection.
So true, and so sad!
I'll be praying for a miraculous reincarnation. The world's getting too weird, without him.
this was very clever! i liked it a lot.
The victim thing just sums it up for me!
I forgot to say that I thought it was a sharp post-
Point very effectively made. We have invited his second cousin once removed to come live in our home where we happen to spend most of our time. But still mourn his death OUT THERE.
Cleverly written. Here's hoping we can rebuild some sort of sense.
Found this link at Something Sublime...excellent and thought provoking...maybe those of us still familiar with Common Sense can somehow resurrect him and bring him back to a place of usefulness. I'm not ready to mourn his loss just yet!
Sad, very sad. He will be missed! Thank you for sharing.
Nostalgic post.
Do you think that this "Common sense" has ever existed ?
Oldies but goldies sound well for some songs.
The good old times weren't good for everyone.
Nevertheless I agree with your description.
what a great write, yes, I too mourn the lost of common sense, people simply don't seem to know what's right anymore...
So true.
Hey, that's a cool post. I think though that common sense is still alive and that it is practical wisdom that is near death. I say near death because the last thing we would want to do is try to raise a zombie wisdom from the grave. That's me trying to be positive. Um...
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