What do we "deserve"?

I have a pet peeve. I have a real problem with folks who think something is owed to them when something unfortunate happens. Anytime something goes wrong, or someone gets hurt or there is an accident of any sort, they feel they deserve compensation.

Law suits have made the world view a bit skewed.  They have also made folks thin skinned in the area of tolerating hardship.

Have you been to the park lately? Most parks are so darn boring now because....Oh My Gosh...a child might, possibly, maybe, get HURT.....gasp!  Really? 

Because some fool has sued the city or park association because their little Pookie got hurt on one of the super fun structures, they must all be removed.  Maybe little Pookie wasn't coordinated, maybe the parents weren't watching them, maybe they just GOT HURT.  I mean that is in every kid's operating manual at birth right?  What on earth would we put a band aid on if they weren't supposed to get hurt sometimes?

Have you ever seen a kid climb a tree? We live in Washington State and we have serious trees here. BIG ones, Douglas Firs. What are we going to do about those rascals climbing trees????  Maybe tree climbing should be illegal.  One of our neighbors came flying out of her house one day because one of our 6 boys was close to the top of a fir in our front yard probably 2 stories high. I came outside and she frantically asked what would happen if he fell.  I thanked her for the concern but I told her we would simply take him to the ER. 

Really???  

What kind of life can a kid have with no risks? Well if your parents think your life should never have any hardships, then no, no risks should be taken. Boring.

What kind of character building can go on when it's believed that if something, anything bad happens, compensation of some sort is deserved? 

Suck it up. Get over it. Brush yourself off and get back on that horse. How about "Stuff Happens" as a motto? 

Do you think for every hard situation blame must be assigned? Why? Really, think about it. WHY?Does blame always have to assigned? Why does a person deserve something simply because an accident occurred?

Last year we were rear ended and the car was smooshed.  The young lady (an older teen) was not on her phone, was not texting, it was very bad weather, and it was an unexpected back up that she couldn't have seen until after she made a turn and there we were.  Her insurance company hounded us about how much we were going to "go after" her for. They were waiting for a high demand of cash. Huh?

Because there was no negligence in our minds, it was simply an accident. Yes, I needed the car and very little in medical cost taken care of, and that's what insurance is for, but we didn't deserve anything more. 

Did it shake us up? Yup.

Did we have an ER visit? Yup.

Was there lasting medical damage? Yup.

Was it stressful? You bet.

Did we deserve to "go after" her?   NOPE.

She was a kid who was taken off guard in bad weather and couldn't stop. Period.

Stuff happens folks.

We have had several very serious medical mistakes made on our children. The mistakes were not negligence per se so why would we deserve compensation?  Possible death was involved in one of them and the loss of a body part on the other.  We sought nor received not one penny for either of those.  Why would we? Because something bad happened? Because something hard had to be dealt with?  Does someone need to be blamed?

Part of this pet peeve has to do with Faith. We believe God is in control.....of everything.

He allows very difficult, sometimes unfair things to happen to all of us for very good reasons. His reasons.  We become better people, stronger, resilient, maybe even gain a sense of humor.  Nothing happens without it being used for a greater good....always.

We have had some pretty big things happen in our family. Our medical is such a huge, complicated circus even our physicians ask me frequently , "How do you DO this?"  Don't you think that implies it's difficult?  They compliment us on how we handle so much, that is so hard, for so long.  That says it's out of the ordinary. And it is.

We blame no one. There is no one to blame. It just IS. And we ask God how He wants us to handle it all, what is His will for us and for our children. What is there He wants us to learn?

There is no way to litigate any compensation from the myriad of diseases our children have. There is no compensation for "pain and suffering". It just IS. 

And there is pain and there is suffering...plenty of it.

And it isn't going away.

Why then, does someone who gets hurt, for example falling in a store, deserve compensation beyond medical bills if any? Have they never fallen in their home?  Maybe they're clumsy. Maybe they have a disorder that causes them to be dizzy. Why do they deserve compensation?

Why does ANYONE deserve compensation for "pain and suffering?"  Where did that start?

Babies are born with physical and mental defects.

People get hurt in public places.

Accidents happen that are just.....accidents. Not pre-meditated to bother someone or ruin their day.

Doctors make mistakes. If it isn't negligence like a surgeon operating while under the influence, it's just a mistake. Mistakes happen. There is no such thing as a perfect doctor.

Why must all of these be compensated or worse litigated?  Why does someone have to be punished because you are inconvenienced or maybe even your life is changed? 

Stuff Happens. Maybe it will make you a better person. Maybe you will grow from the suffering incurred or maybe you will meet someone or change some one's life by your patient tolerance of something very hard. God is awesome. He knows we only learn when something hard happens.

When did you ever learn something profound without some hardship?  Hardship is good for us. Really.

Someone or something does not have to blamed because something hard happens to you. Don't run for your attorney.

Pray.

Pray for strength, for wisdom, for patience, for humility.

So, I am done now. I will get off my soapbox.  Let's all buck up or as one of my sons says, "Open a can of man and get over it!"

Or......let's embrace the hard things that God sends our way as lessons in life for a greater good.

~Blessings~

Lisa