An old boy emailed me this delightful (and heartrending, if you read it the right way) article which I thought would be appropriate for this blog:
London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense - Sunday, 31st March 2008
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
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; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. 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.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
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10 comments:
Sir,
I can understand certain points about the post,but I am unable to interpret the real inner meaning that you want to convey with some of the examples that you have provided(such as "common sense finally gave up the will.........promptly awarded a huge settlement.-this is the one that I have'nt understood at all)
Therefore may I request you to please get me out of this confusion?
Thanking You
yours faithfully,
Soumallya Chattopadhyay
Soumallya, about the bit you didn't understand: the woman presumably ordered a mug at some cafe, and then accidentally spilled a little on her lap. That, I hope, clears your confusion-- though it bewilders me to think that she would ask for a settlement from the cafe-management in the first place!
Thanks for posting this, Sir. A fine example of black humour, blending pathos and hilarity in equal proportions. The last three lines of this post are ones I'll remember for long.
Actually the part of "awarding settlement"was the one that I couldn't understand.However,the post is a fine one.I suppose that it would prove to be an eye opener to certain people,who have done away with their common sense......
Sir,there are a lot more that you could have added to this post;like for example:-being totally absorbed in talking on cell phone without realizing the approaching of a train while crossing a railway track;secondly using certain words without even knowing the meaning of them and later facing a harassing situation after wards....and such other instances.
With regards,
Soumallya Chattopadhyay
I can understand Soumallya's confusion because some of the illustrations of absence of common sense given here are relevant to the so called first world. For example, we cannot, yet, think of suing a teashop owner if we are scalded by hot tea.
But the message is as much applicable to us as it is to any other place.
A thrilling event happened this week in India. The world's cheapest car was introduced. It is common sense that such a cheap car will choke our roads, or whatever remains of them. It is common sense that we should focus on cheap mass transit systems, rather than more cars. But who cares?
Mr Sinha Chaudhuri has very rightly hit the hammer on the nail.It is very true that most of nonsense muddleheads are blindly running after the "ek lakhi nano".
From all these instances,we can conclude without hesitation that people are doggedly pursuing themselves to run after the so called"latest fashionable" gadgets without even realising its harm on our world or the environment.They just want to increase their "STATUS" with respect to their neighbourhood.So I think that teaching "Environmental Education" to spread"Environmental Awareness" without practising them is becoming a fallacy isn't it sir?What do you think?
Yours faithfully
Soumallya Chattopadhyay
That was a wonderful read, I lack words to express how good it felt to go through it.
I have a long way ahead of me to go, and dear 'common sense' has already departed, so it IS indeed a very sad moment.
Common sense is just a kind of intuition gained in everyday experience, I had read somewhere. And it was actually nice to see the process of its decay, in stages!
This is the first time that someone has passed away and I am smiling over that, isn't that another instance to confirm that 'common sense' has really gone?
Love
Manoshij
I visited this blog today for the first time and I loved this post immensely. It makes so much sense, in this no-sense world of ours. Most of the examples were of course from some of the European and North American countires as someone already pointed out, but they are beginning to show even back home. I hope good sense prevails! thanks for a beautiful read.
Devarchana.
Not to detract from the absolute profundity of the piece, a trifle 'politically incorrect' one at that, er? I know quite a few stepbrothers and half brothers who might put the numerous real brothers of the world cowering for cover!!
Ah! A sigh! That reminds me of the story we know already but perhaps worth a re-cap. A little one about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
Let me reproduce it, just.
"There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done."
Takers, anyone ?
Love and Regards and gracious thanks, Suvro, for giving us an elegiac reference of 'Common Sense and His* Ilk'
[PS. *Masculine gender is being used as a generic instance, purely coincidentally and unintentionally and has no specific gender allusions!]
This is a sad one actually...and one can either weep or laugh - maybe do both, if one can - at different times, depending upon one's mood.
The only sureshot way of staying away from the grottiness is to meet as few people as possible, to become a social hermit, and to stay happy and secluded with like-minded people, and do one's own thing - and then common sense seems to be happy and alive too, and even though there may be the possibility of him falling sick -he doesn't just die.
...but it isn't possible for most people to stay happily secluded. One has to go out and make sure that one has bread and milk, and coffee and cigarettes (or whatever other basic needs one has along with the other ones in relation to shelter and water and the like) and so one has to bear with the senselessness.
I know I wouldn't be able to wish away senselessness from the world with a frantic wave of my arms - but I sure would wish if I could that some people would never come across the level of utter and moronic senselessness that they face every day and every other day.
The last line in the obit is a corker.
A more cherful comment may follow soon.
Take care.
For some reason the one in which the teens were suspended for using mouth wash after lunch keeps popping into my head: was that to prevent students from kissing each other after lunch or was that to prevent some students from covering up the fact that they had been smoking in secluded spots in the playground...Quite boggles my brain, this one.
Hoom.
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