Thalia is tempted by a link in an unending chain of pop-up advertisements.
Urania’s head swivels back and forth. “Nope.”
“Can you believe… we had to tell spider-service-salesman Ian ‘NO’… no less than six times… before he motored back down our driveway on his electric scooter?”
“I give him crehhhh-dit — doing his best to earn a buck!” Thalia sees his effort — and theirs. “Prowwww-d of us for sticking to our ‘no’.
Nia’s thinker swivels up and down. “You’re right. And perhaps we all learned something from our exchange.”
Placing the blame or judgment on someone else leaves you powerless to change your experience; taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgements gives you the power to change them.
~ Byron Katie
"Many years ago, I heard a radio interview of a professor of mass communication speak about a fundamental change that advertisers made in their approach to consumers. Advertisers thought that shaming people into buying products was the right approach. Then a shift took place as they began to sell the idea that we deserved the product. McDonald’s became famous by telling us that “You deserve a break today.” Is it any wonder that a half-century later that we live in a culture where people feel they are entitled to every benefit possible, even the exclusion of work."
Excerpt above from: https://edbrenegar.substack.com/p/understanding-the-context-of-the?r=19lbt&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Thoughts from Loveletterist: I agree that we've collectively created a culture of entitlement thinking. Thank you @edbreneger for a thought eliciting article. The question then becomes... If we want culture to be different, what response(abilities) are ours in creating change?
The muses and I saw a few options with spider guy Ian. One, we stuck to our no. Two, we were playful in our conversation with him. Three, we are curious about the exchange and withhold judgment of a young man who is trying to make a living -- going so far as to recognize he doesn't have an easy job. (Conversation on the morning patrol tells me he heard a whole lotta "NO" on his Sunday travels of our neighborhood.)
Yesterday my friend Elaine and I talked about curiosity as part of our I AM WORTH IT! series.
Here is a link to the replay. If you are not a Clubhouse member, I believe you will be prompted to download the app to enable listening.
https://www.clubhouse.com/room/MR2r77yA?utm_medium=ch_room_xr&utm_campaign=3MKslrpXVNhSycVUAFAWvQ-832718