Some Gray Clouds Are Tougher To Rise Above

In my world, there's a concept that is second nature: don't take what isn't yours. I was raised to respect all property and to be able to distinguish between what was mine and what was someone else's. Unfortunately, not everyone else was given this same advantage in life.

At the moment I'm saddened, though just an hour ago I was angry. I'm feeling weighed down, though not because my sons' shoes, backpacks and other belongings were stolen from a locker at a local ski lodge, not even because their friend's things were taken just hours afterward. While I am upset that my boys and their friend, who all come from single, working mother households, don't have an array of replacement items to buffer the thefts, it isn't what has me down. Things can be replaced, lessons can always be learned about keeping the items you value safe, and life does go on - with or without the shoes you walked in with.

Despite knowing all of this, I still find it disheartening to watch as my children experience the cruel actions of those who never learned not to take what doesn't belong to them. That a day of fun was quickly reduced to stress, anger and waiting around a ski lodge to report the theft to police. It is also disturbing that all the preparation and educating I have done through the years regarding respecting authority and seeking them out should they ever find themselves in a situation that requires it, has now been subjected to doubt because the people in charge of this ski lodge treated them as though they had done something wrong instead of trying to help.

My sons, like so many in similar situations, have only a few things of any monetary value - I give them what I can and (for the most part) they take care of those things. When your belongings are few, it hurts even more to lose them. Neither of my sons were in need of a reminder or lesson in respecting property, but they were given one just the same. They now have the unpleasant experience of being stolen from to reinforce what they have known since they were toddlers. The silver lining for them, though they may not realize it for some time, is that they are now even less likely to ever compromise their values.

I will never understand how a person can steal from another person. Clearly these people are missing something in their lives, attempting to fill some void perhaps, I don't know. While I'm sad for my sons' experience this evening, I'm more saddened that there are so many individuals missing things that should give them their humanity. How is it we have produced such large numbers of dishonest, desperate and unconscionable people, when kindness costs nothing and is so easy to teach?

We as a people need to do much better; we need to get back to fostering and exemplifying a culture rooted in humanity.