Arrogance should carry side effects like total hair loss or crippling weight-gain.
It ought to turn your skin blue or cause some kind of a horrendous acne outbreak.
Having the gall to insinuate yourself into somebody else’s private or personal affairs without first asking for permission says something about your ego, and it isn’t good, especially when you’re a neighbour.
It says clearly in the Canadian constitution, nestled in among the wordings that make up our fundamental freedoms, that we are allowed to associate with whomever we wish as long as we do not infringe valid laws that protect the rights and interests of others.
However, if this is truly the case, how can a person think it is okay for them to try and exert control over any single aspect of another’s private life?
Last time I checked this was Alberta, not Tehran.
We have freedoms in this country that refugees can only dream about.
Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it though.
Take, for example, the petty ways one neighbour attacks another, or the stranger that objects to a person’s disciplining of their own child.
I admit the two are from vastly different sides of the spectrum on this issue of a person’s private business, but in a way, they are similar too.
What right does one person have to tell another whom they can or can’t have in their own house?
Are they going to tell us next what colour socks to wear on a daily basis?
Will they be dictating our meal choices or recreational activities after that?
Honestly, you’ve got to draw the line somewhere.
You can see how ridiculous situations like this can be.
We all know how touchy people can get over hot-button issues like abortion, religion, politics, and guns, so what I am wondering is why fundamental freedoms violations aren’t being regarded in the same light, and more importantly, what we can do about it when something happens.
The short answer is to mind your own business.
Unless there is a valid reason or grounds for concern, in circumstances where there is no actual proof of any alleged wrongdoing, maybe you shouldn’t be trying to upstage Pinocchio.
If there is a problem, open and civil dialogue usually works best, but having to resort to displays of childish behaviour is just down right silly.
We call situations like that communication breakdowns.
Adults are supposed to be able to handle their differences better.
So the next time you feel the urge to act like a busybody, or when your addiction to control starts to make you jittery, maybe you should think carefully about all the different kinds of boundaries you’re overstepping and leave the micromanaging to the CEOs.
Make some lifestyle changes, and develop those rusting hobbies.
Life is complicated enough without our trying to run everyone else’s too, and, frankly I’m tired of having to deal with your control issues.
