It’s a touching story, but….

It amazes me how some people will react to a sob story of trials and tribulations. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as sympathetic as anyone. People have rough lives and experience some rather terrible things. I’ve been there, and I can certainly relate to others who are currently there.

The thing is, my sympathy doesn’t negate the fact that the person going through rough times still has responsibilities and needs to be accountable. If one cannot meet those responsibilities, then one needs to make that clear and separate oneself honorably from those responsibilities. One who simply tells a sob story, continues to promise to meet those responsibilies (despite telling a sob story that makes it clear to anyone paying attention that one cannot keep that promise) is not only being irresponsible, but is entirely unethical.

Apparently, only a small number of people seem to understand this. Far too many others are willing to focus on the sob story and be all understanding. That’s all fine and good, but that doesn’t answer the questions about the promises said individual has made to these people.

Do these people not realize that they’ve had their butts saved by an overly-generous benefactor who did what no other host will do? Do they not understand that “I can’t pay my rent” is probably going to result in the next host saying, “Then you really can’t afford our services at this time” and “please come back when you’re more financially secure”? Non-payment means interruption of services, even when “I can’t afford to pay the bill right now” is an honest answer. A recurring history of non-payment often results in a host requiring an extensive security deposit and/or advance payment of several months in order to restore services.

In other words, the sob story doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, it only demonstrates that the problem isn’t going away. Fortunately, some people seem to be realizing this. They’re starting to ask the right questions. And I hope that more people will do likewise, for their own sakes.

But others aren’t seeing the signs. And I have to admit that I wonder why? Is it a need (bordering on pathological) to believe everything’s okay? Is it a lack of real world experience? Or is it something else.

I just can’t comprehend it.