The Sadness of Jealousy

Emotions are part of our makeup, without them we would be little more than machines, but how sad when we make more use of the bad ones than the good ones.

My wife and I were staying with our friend Maria who lives in an apartment block within a urbanization on the edge of Salamanca, Spain.

Upon returning from town, all the parking spaces outside were taken except for three across the road so I parked my car in one. My wife, who speaks Spanish, noticed a sign which said they were for disabled people. I decided to leave the car there because there was nowhere else, and as we had a good view from the apartment, I would move it as soon as a spot came free elsewhere.

About thirty minutes later I looked out the window to check the status of the street and saw the car was gone. Oh Great! Just what we needed!

OK! I freely admit I should not have parked there in the first place, but considering the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of these parking spots all over Europe and they are occupied less than 0.5% of the time I didn't think I was doing any harm for the short time I would be there. There were after all still two more vacant slots.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we had to take two buses to get to the Police Impound Yard, pay the charges and fine to get the car back.

It was later when I thought about it, that the Police and tow truck had been on the scene pretty darned quick to catch us out, and it was not an area frequented by them at all. Then it struck me, some 'kind' person must have called them! Later, when our friend Maria came home, she said she was sure that is what happened.

It got me to thinking. Maria said there are no disabled people living in the area, so it must have been just pure mischief on someones part because they saw a Lexus parked there and were jealous. This didn't make me mad, it just made me feel sad for the individual who was upset because someone had something they didn't, and decided to 'get their own back'. My wife put it perfectly; "There is no need to get mad or even, because when it comes time for those people to stand before their Maker, I am sure He will take this little episode into account." Straight away I agreed.

I really feel sorry for the person or persons responsible, because if they have nothing more interesting to do with their lives than peek through their curtains at the world outside to see if they can 'get even' with individuals who have a life, then they are to be pitied, not scorned.

It is however significant of our times, that individuals with less, are consumed by jealousy for those who have worked hard all there lives and managed to attain a small luxury or two.

They are typified by those who see a nice car, e.g. a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar or Lexus and run down the side of it with a key or other implement with the sole purpose of causing as much damage, and therefore expense to the unfortunate owner, as possible because he has something they do not. Not everyone who drives a Lexus is rich. Some like myself, have worked hard and saved to buy a nice car for their retirement, so what right do these individuals have to destroy my 'harmony'?

When I was a child, the destructive kind of jealousy you see today was unheard of. Jealousy was around of course, but not so blatant as it is today. The narrow minded attitude, and vicious acts of pure vandalism against those with a little more are intolerable in today's society, but sad to say, it is on the increase day by day.

These days few people are willing to work hard for what they want, save for what they want, and above all, wait for what they want. The cry you hear above all others today is; "I want it NOW!" A good indication of the reason for the current economic crisis where everyone is buying on credit.

Too many today are lazy and disinterested in bettering themselves through serious study or hard work, but still think they are entitled to the same standard of living as those who do.

I believe that everyone is capable of bettering themselves, if they are willing to study to better their qualifications and work hard. The sad thing is, most people just can't be bothered. So long as they have enough money for cigarettes, beer, and their own simple pleasures they are not interested. But it still angers them when someone has more than they do, and it matters not that the individual concerned has perhaps been to night-school, does a hard days work, and saves for the fine things he/she has. The general attitude today is, 'If I can't have it, then neither should you!'.

It is indeed unfortunate that these people must wait until they meet their Maker before action is taken against them, for in the meantime, they can make the lives of good hard-working folk a complete misery, for they are seldom caught and punished by the Law.

During a trip to Craiova in Romania some years ago, my car was scratched up by someone during the night. Thankfully it was a hire car so it was covered, but I was told by my friends, that it was probably because the car had Bucharest plates, and local people hate those in Bucharest because in general, they have a better standard of living in the capitol. I know the person who did it was never caught because there was no way to identify the culprit.

I guess like many good citizens today, I will have to wait for 'Judgement Day'.

Never give up, there are still good people around.

Roy.