Announcements, announcements, announcements

Of late, I have become quite interested in the multiplicity of ways that people announce their "news" be it good or bad.

Specifically, I've seen lots of people announcing the gender of their soon to be baby via colored cake, colored balloons and other colored mediums that let everyone know what's going on. That's pretty cool.

I've also noticed a not so exciting trend in announcing unfortunate news on Facebook and other social media sites as if everyone should know and pick sides in your personal ongoing drama. That is not so cool. In fact, it is sophomoric.

Dirty laundry used to be quietly dealt with.

Now it is an opportunity to expose the dirt, the grime and the filth  in the most public way possible to excoriate the other people and make yourself appear glorious by comparison.

Enough.

I do not want to see/share in that kind of announcement.

By all means, include me in the public announcements that bring happiness. But please, restrain yourself and RETRAIN yourself to know what is appropriate to share and what just makes you look like a buffoon.

Liars, Cheaters and other trifling people

We are all imperfect.

I get that.

I probably lead the parade on the imperfect issue.

However, I become frustrated that people who are placed in leadership capacity are not just imperfect, but spend time and energy justifying why their personal imperfections should be in some sort of protected class that everyone must respect.

Case in point, the scout "leader" who in company with two other "leaders" from his unit managed to destroy some ancient stone monuments in Goblin Valley, Utah then had the temerity to post it to Youtube as if what they did was hilariously funny and laudable.

Then, the one "leader" is now revealed to be seeking disability from the state of Utah for his issues resultant from an automobile accident.

I'll be blunt.

Having just been in a hellacious wreck myself, I cannot imagine using my free time and precious energy to go vandalize public or private property. It does not compute.

What is the thought process that goes into those kinds of actions?

"Hey, I was nearly killed so I'll go destroy something to prove I'm disabled!"

Or maybe this one:

"Because of my leadership position in scouts, I'm above the rules that ordinary people have to obey so destruction of property is okay for me but not for you!"

Then again, there is this trite phrase:

"It's not what you think!"

Justification is a self-induced slippery slope. There is no excuse possible, but we make up one anyway as if it will somehow erase our stupidity, our arrogance and our pride and make our vile actions palatable.

That is not possible.

Either through direct means or through the indirect follow-up of life in general, we pay for every single choice we make whether the results of said choices are good and laudable, or disastrous and bad.

We cannot long escape consequence.

In the eternal scheme of things, all those "leaders" involved in this debacle can and will be forgiven, and they should be. But they should also have to pay the price for their choice to be deliberately stupid then try to cover it up with veiled excuses of why their actions were secretly good and noble even though they might not have started out that way.

That is like driving down the highway and suddenly shifting into reverse at highway speed. You can do that, but likely the results will be neither optimal or desirable.

Destruction of the shared property of our nation is vile. But worse yet is the preening self-justification of grown men now faced with consequences who are teaching actively that they should be excused because they are somehow a benefactor in their actions.

I'm not buying it and neither are the millions of people who have seen the video (yes, the idiots made one!), read the countless articles, or know these men in person and now have reason to doubt their capacity to care for their sons on scout outings.

None of us is immune to consequence. We can lie, cheat, trifle our words and skate around the truth, but God will not be mocked. Eventually, consequence shows up and the payment may be dear. What of those boys, who seeing this in their adolescent state determine that they can do whatever they want to do so long as they create an adequate cover story?

What other monuments and shared landmarks will be destroyed in the name of personal fun?

It's time to restore some integrity, personally and nationally.

Cowboy up, dudes. Accept both the condemnation which you EARNED and the consequences which are most assuredly deserved legally and fiscally for what you have done. Likely, you also deserve some consequences in Scouting.

Only then can you make any semblance of restitution for what you have done and only then can the forgiveness process of others mean anything.

And being truly sorry would be a good first step.