A MURPHY METAPHOR MOMENT

Murphy, the dog, liked to hike with us in the mountains. Murphy also liked to jump in mud up to his neck and accompanied by the inevitable sucking sound, Murphy would leap out and rapidly roll in the nearest pile of fresh animal droppings. In that "earthy" condition, Murphy would come up to us, eyes caked and twinkling, begging to be petted. Murphy was a dog oblivious to the theory of cause and effect, among many other things.

Unfortunately Murphy is not the only animal struggling with cause and effect. This is a concept seeming very difficult to grasp for the human animal also. Examples from my sparsely populated home state of New Mexico:

o A lady in Albuquerque spilled hot coffee in her lap, sued McDonalds and was awarded $2 million plus which was eventually reduced to approximately $600,000. (What would you spill in your lap for $600,000? Battery acid comes to my mind.)

o A former medical student sued University of New Mexico contending the school, under the Americans With Disabilities Act, didn't make reasonable accommodations for his disability. His disability -- test anxiety! His suit stated he suffers from an anxiety disorder. (A doctor with an anxiety disorder?)

o A gambler (apparently not a very good one) sued the Indian gaming casinos for loss of his money and his marriage. Said he couldn't resist gambling so the casinos shouldn't have been there to tempt him.

o A high school football player was arrested for running 35 yards across the field and blindsiding a referee who had tossed him out for unsportsmanlike conduct only minutes before. The boy's mother explained to the press her son was not at fault; it was the fault of the authorities who let him play when he was tired.

For all too many people, they do everything to create the cause and fight with every ounce of their strength against accepting the inevitable effect their cause created. You spill coffee, you get burned, You flunk enough tests, you fail. You gamble long enough, you lose. You cold cock a referee in front of a hundred people, you get punished. Why should someone else pay for the effect of your cause?

If you, like Murphy the dog, insist on rolling in it, others shouldn't have to suffer because you're not getting petted.


Lesson: You reap what you sow, but don't expect somebody else to eat it.