As human beings we deserve to be treated (and I mean as a fundamental right) and have the obligation to treat each other with honesty and compassion and respect and dignity. And I think the difference between being human and treating each other with humanity is that sometimes we have to extend that treatment to people who haven’t necessarily earned those rights through merits and deeds. And anyone who makes their actions dependent upon another’s reactions needs less behavioral justification and more ethical fortification. I can’t fathom an excuse for one’s behavior built upon a foundation of “You made me” and not “I chose to.”
February 14, 2007
© 2007-2008 Mark R Trost
I smoked 3 packs of Winston cigarettes a day for 25 years. I enjoyed them tremendously. People frequently ask me how I managed to quit. I was hospitalized a couple years ago with complications from diabetes. As I walked into the Regions Hospital Emergency Room I saw people standing outside smoking cigarettes near the parking lot. And I saw the selfishness of their behavior. The people they claimed to love were inside the building in various stages of trauma. Yet they were outside removed from their responsibilities. Were they holding their loved one’s hands? No. Were they closing their hands in supplication on the behalf of their loved ones? No. Were they offering solace to the other visitors? No. They were engaged in an activity that was completely self-centered. And I saw the cowardliness of their be
