Entitlement

 

As we stopped to get family donuts this morning, the sign in the restroom caught my eye.

“Please be considerate of others and clean up any messes you may have left.”

It reminded me of a sharp contrast I observed several years ago.  As a young class visited the restroom, a student balled up their paper towel and attempted to toss it into the trash can from across the room.

He missed and went over to pick up the paper.

His teacher immediately stopped him and commented, “Oh you don’t need to pick that up, that’s what we have janitors for.”

What a missed opportunity.

The child had naturally felt responsibility for his own actions and had tried to pick up his mess.

Yet instead of helping cement that foundation of personal accountability, the teacher had reinforced entitlement and laziness.

This same attitude is increasingly prevalent in society today.  

It sounds like “Why should I have to?”, “Someone else will do it” or “It’s not my job”.

Elder Dallin H Oaks stated, “The values of the world wrongly teach that “it’s all about me.” That corrupting attitude produces no change and no growth. It is contrary to eternal progress toward the destiny God has identified in His great plan for His children. The plan of the gospel of Jesus Christ lifts us above our selfish desires and teaches us that this life is all about what we can become.”

So where do we start? 

Maybe by double checking we leave the bathroom ready for the next visitors.  

By thinking of others.  

By cleaning up our own messes.