Feb 15, 2009

An Interesting Obituary From The London Times

I recently received this from a friend and I thought it was thought provoking even though it is presented in a humorous essay. I hope you enjoy it too.

An Obituary printed in the London Times:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

Common Sense will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
knowing when to come in out of the rain
why the early bird gets the worm
life isn't always fair
maybe it was my fault

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.

Common Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin 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 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; by his wife, Discretion; by his daughter, Responsibility; and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral - few realized he was gone.

17 comments:

pam said...

That's good, sad but well done.

Heather said...

so true!

Just A Girl said...

HI Kathy,
This really is so sad, but true! And things are only going to get worse! I always think now would be a good time for the Lord to come back.
I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

xo Cori

Carolyn said...

Well said!!
Carolyn

Old Centennial Farmhouse said...

I saw that last week! And, doesn't it say it ALL? Especially in light of what took place in Washington last week, and in particular on Friday night! I stand in absolute amazement at the utter lack of common sense on the part of those who think they're smarter than the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Ditto to the obituary you just shared and double ditto to Joni's comment. We're in a world of hurt here--we have very little Common Sense left on Capitol Hill.

LOVED your Valentine tribute--hope you had a great day--we did! Dana

SmilingSally said...

Cute! I love funny stuff.

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Sad but true huh? This was a great post..I enjoyed your visit. I hope to see you again soon.. hugs ~lynne~

jmb said...

I wonder if it was written by George Poles. He is a Brit who wrote a whole book of these obituaries, called As a Dodo . They are are all excellent.

Susan @ The Good Life! said...

Sad but true!

BECKY said...

What a timely message, Kathy.

My Dad had this saying "If common sense were so common, everyone would have it".

I had an older neighbor who grieved for the good old days...I so understand her grief now that I'm older!

Glad to have Jesus to help navigate through the mess of it all!!

I hope you have a great week!!

Blessings,
Becky

Technonana said...

Thanks Kathy for posting this, I have seen it before, but 'good stuff' always bears repeatin'.

Pink Slippers said...

So True!
I need to share this with a few people I know who will enjoy reading this post.
Wendy

Anonymous said...

Very cute story!

Karen at Nittany Inspirations said...

I posted a blog titled 1957 vs. 2007 which is the same type of commentary as your Common Sence post. Check out mine.
http://nittanyinspirations.blogspot.com/index.html#7924858503888233042
Thanks, Karen

Neabear said...

I have seen this before. It was good to see it again as a reminder how true it is getting to be. Sometimes it seems like we would be afraid to leave our homes because of the lack of common sense out there.

Wendy said...

This was great! Thanks for sharing it!