IN COMPLIANCE WITH EVERYTHING?

I believe I’ve been in compliance with most things American all of my life.

At the same time I don’t expect the same from anyone else.

My clean record comes from following the rules, obeying the laws, and honoring the requests made of me.

Who the heck am I, some kind of Superman?

Nothing could be further from the truth, which is the ease of living a clean record kind of life.

I missed out on the winter day spent throwing snowballs at passing cars.

The time they tipped a porto-potty in the driveway of a remodeling job that flooded under the front door?

Missed it.

Putting the hammer down through residential neighborhoods with the music up and the windows down?

Nope.

Throwing bales of hay off a stacked pile? I didn’t do it, but someone did. (Hey Karla)

I blame peer pressure when things go out of compliance.

A middle-manager at job explained it like this: “When the big bosses screw off, we screw off.”

With that in mind, why not screw off on your own initiative?

 

An ‘In Compliance’ Record

I’ve always been a trooper.

It started by joining the Boy Scouts and wearing the scout uniform and going to camporees.

At one event my Fox Patrol lashed together such an incredible table that the judges thought it had to be a troop-level project.

The troop placed third in the competition for that table, which would have been the big winner at the patrol-level.

For American compliance I played little league baseball and still own a Wilson A2000 glove.

I’ve learned to make pie crust for apple and any other pie.

I love my Momma to fill out the big three.

 

 

Going beyond the basics, I was an Army guy, a college guy, a small town guy, and a city guy.

Even more, I’ve hitchhiked across this great land, rode a bus from NYC to Portland, flew from Philly to North Bend and back, then settled down.

With one wife I’ve had two kids, grandkids, a dog, and better buddies than I could hope for.

The list goes on with compliance, but something is missing: the list of things I’m not in compliance with.

That’s where I’d brag about my police record, jail time, illegal activities, shady friends, and drug-house kids.

You know, living life fully and free.

 

Home Of The Brave, Land Of The Free

Before you dive into the next American myth, check the water.

One of the joys of my work life was spending time with smart people.

They were practical smart, not stupid smart.

They could do things that turned out right, not theoretical projects that never ended.

In reviewing my compliance record I don’t see a time where I applied intentional cruelty, at least not away from a wrestling mat or football field.

My life of crime? Minor.

Overall I find it difficult to understand how people screw up the way they do.

Bad decisions and poor choices, followed by more bad decisions and poor choices? That’s a spin cycle hard to get out of.

It’s even worse when it’s out of your hands.

Once you get a grip on how you can do better, you lose all of the help you depended on.

Kick that heroin habit, move off meth, break the bottle, and finally feel like yourself only to learn the support you counted on disappeared during a congressional vote?

Your effort toward living a more compliant life is not rewarded.

Now what?