We all get by with help from friends
It seems some people haven’t come to grips as to how the real world works, always whining about how things aren’t fair when they wouldn’t know how to play by the rules themselves if the rules were printed on their foreheads.
The biggest thing I hear is how folks resent government officials for their ability to get the breaks and the advantages of office. It’s not like they would do the same thing if they were in office. Yeah, right.
Do most government officials take advantage of their positions to gain an advantage for themselves or their friends? Of course they do. Would the average citizen do the same thing if they were in office? Of course they would.
I’d ask for those of you who haven’t used your position, whatever it is, to help benefit friends, to raise your hands but I don’t want to make liars of you. We all have. If you even thought about raising your hand, then you may want to call the Vatican and put yourself in for sainthood.
Whether it be giving your friend an extra packet of taco sauce at a local eatery where you work, giving your friend a free pass to a ball game where you are working the gate, or giving your old friend preferential treatment when it comes to cutting out red tape to getting land rezoned, everyone uses their position to some degree. The only difference is some positions afford a greater benefit than just giving away extra taco sauce.
Yes, the old adage that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know is absolutely correct and it is true in all parts of society, from the highest political office to the seemingly most mundane jobs.
If we both have stopped up toilets today, and I call a plumber friend of mine immediately after you call to make an appointment, where is he coming first even though you called first? Nine out 10 plumbers will take care of their friends first, and frankly, those who don’t likely won’t have too many friends left.
If I’ve got four inches of space left in the paper and a friend has an announcement and a total stranger has announcement, and they are both equally pressing, which one gets in? I put the friend’s in just like you would.
Face it, human nature is to help friends first, whether it be us regular folks or elected officials, entrusted in the leadership of our county, state and country.
The place where I draw the line is when favoritism outweighs one’s sworn duties to a point where rules or laws are broken. Remember the announcement space I spoke about earlier? While I might give a friend the nod over a stranger if all things were equal, any friend of mine knows not to even bother about calling me to keep their name out of the paper if they get into legal trouble.
I’m going to run your name whether you’re a relative, friend or enemy. Why? Because it’s the rule. Our rule here is that everyone whose name is on the docket who is guilty of a crime will be published.
To fail to do so would be violating the rule. While I’m a bit of a rebel, I try not to break the rules seeing I want others to also abide by the rules. It wouldn’t be fair for me to throw the rules to the wind and expect everyone else in society to abide by the rules.
So, as I abide by rules of the people I work for, I expect lawmakers to abide by rules of their office and the people they work for, that being the voters.
Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].