There has been much discussion over the years regarding the issue of entitlement. I openly admit that I speak without scientific results and without the benefit of any extensive or exhaustive research study. Nevertheless, I feel strongly that we live in a time of when the feelings of entitlement continue to grow and grow. Many people feel they ‘have the right’ to express themselves and their lifestyles in whatever way they want.

Children often tell their parents that they ‘need’ a cell phone. They no longer ‘want’ a cell phone; rather, they feel entitled to a cell phone. Adults feel they have the ‘right’ to all types of benefits and perks. Spouses feel they have the ‘right’ to act in ways which in previous generations would have been considered unacceptable.

Grown men announce they have the ‘right’ to be recognized and appreciated and even applauded for insisting on their ‘right’ to alter the way Hashem made them. Animals now have ‘rights’ and are entitled to similar protections which are afforded humans.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of our age of entitlement is the feeling that we have the ‘right’ to have our complaints and grievances adjudicated in a favorable and beneficial way to us immediately. We have a ‘right’ to get our way and we have a right to get it ‘now’!

 

Entitled

 

People want to get their way and they want to get it when they want it. Unfortunately, life of course is much more complicated and growing up in a world where the sense of entitlement constantly increases does not bode well for the future of the human race.

Recently, I came across a story which highlights this pervasive sense of
entitlement which has become endemic to our society:

ALLIANCE, Ohio — A 44 year-old Ohio woman was arrested Monday after
calling 911 to report Chinese food that was “not up to par for her liking,” according to police. A woman in Ohio ordered Chinese food, paid with a credit card, ate from the food and after deciding it was “not up to par,” demanded a refund. When the proprietor explained that since she paid with a credit card, he would refund the money to the card, however, he could not give her cash.

She proceeded to call 911 to report her ’emergency’!! After police determined the woman had no real emergency, she was arrested and charged with misuse of 911, a misdemeanor.

 

 

What causes people to have the audacity to call 911 to complain about the quality of their Chinese food?

I imagine it has something to do with the fact that if you are a famous and well-known former sports star who is unhappy about the quality of the portion he received from Hashem, you are rewarded with accolades for having the courage to insist of what you are ‘entitled’ to. No one should be a shmatta in this world; however, no one is entitled to the entire world either.

 

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