"Colossal"

Rich people got busted this week for cheating their kids into top colleges.  I don't think this is news.  Do you really think the current US president would've been accepted into any college based on his own achievements?  Of course not.  He's barely literate and admits he hates reading.  Cheating by rich people isn't new, but it still ticks me off.

I was a good candidate to go to college.  Never mind I was a juvenile delinquent.  I had excellent grades and a drive to succeed.  My guidance counselor never spoke to me.  I didn't even know that's what she was supposed to do.  Nobody told me anything about college admissions or financial aid.  Dad had known, but he died.  One teacher told me to apply for a specific scholarship and then I was on my own.

Thankfully, I got the scholarship and got through college, at one time working 3 jobs while attending school full-time.  My grades suffered from my exhaustion and the sexual harassment I received at one of those jobs.  My grades dropped to a 3.2 GPA and I wasn't considered for boons offered at school like interviews with prominent companies.  I walked barefoot 10 miles to school in a blizzard, uphill both ways...

Oh, right, the point.  Well, I'm pretty sure it's easier to get good grades when studying is the only thing you have to do, you have enough food, and you have money for supplies that make your homework easier.  Rich people's spoiled brats are already guaranteed to get ahead.  They don't need to cheat or lie on their taxes.  Put them all in prison.

I talked to the father of one of my friends at a party.  He crowed about how he'd cheated the system and got significant financial aid for his son.  Never mind this was a wealthy family.  I could've stabbed that man in the heart.  I sputtered that I didn't get any financial aid.  My friend's father called me "Stupid!"

Maybe I was stupid, but I have to live with myself.  Rich people know how to get what they want, and they aren't burdened by my sense of ethics.  They rig colossal systems to keep getting what they want legally, let alone more than that.  They don't deserve more than the rest of us, even if they feel like they do.  I'd like some of that easy privilege too.  "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!"*

Maybe getting upset about this kind of thing is a colossal waste of time, but we all like to think successes are earned and we can succeed too if we try hard enough.  "Behind every great fortune lies a crime" (Balzac) shouldn't stop any of us from trying to achieve, to do our best, and to be kind to each other in the process.

I'd like more money than I have.  I'm not going to cheat to get it.  I'm glad the bad guys got caught this time.  

I was looking through a box of papers the other day and came across the receipts for my great-grandparents' house (T.L. and Lucy).  I don't know the full story of it, and I don't know why I kept the receipts when I cleared out my Grandpa's home (Winley or W.W.).  I think I liked seeing how the debt was paid over time.  It shows love and commitment.  You can see those values in great art and writing too.

The art above is from a gift I gave my niece for getting her masters degree last year.  I'm pretty sure she didn't give anyone half a million dollars to achieve it.  I recently painted an elephant for someone which would've been great for "colossal" but I forgot to photograph it.  As I've said many times before, I'll try to remember next time!

*Brady Bunch reference for those of you in other countries or too young to know.