3 Rules of the Street

                                     

I recently watched the animated movie, "Kung Fu Panda". An animated movie speaks to all age groups and hidden within the movie are messages. The message I took away from this movie was, the three rules of the street. 

1. Trust no one

2. Somebody will get hurt

3. No one cares about your feelings

Trust no one. I am a scaredy pants, especially of the dark. I would never be one of those people that spent a night on the street to promote awareness. I want to walk with the Bear Clan, but they would have to have one of the members walk with me and that defeats the purpose. My point here is, what I write about living on the street is only an assumption or hear say. I think there has always been street communities. With the closing of the large Mental Health Hospitals, some people chose to live on the street. I don't think this is the case anymore, many have no choice. The homelessness caused by drug usage is rising. Along with that comes paranoia, and I assume very little trust.  

I find the older a person gets the less trust they have. I am not sure if this is a fair statement but, I think men have a bigger problem than women. I try to be smart about safety while out and about. I will continue to trust people until I am proven wrong. I lock my doors at night, I don't fuss if I accidentally go to the mailbox and leave my door open. I simply don't have the energy to not trust others. Being distrustful is more work than I am willing to do at this point in my life. 

Someone will get hurt. In every situation that has either survival or filled with emotion, someone seems to get hurt. The animal kingdom is brutal when it comes to surviving. The alpha male always gets the best and the rest survive the best they can. I can only speculate how this is for people living on the street. Gangs are forming at an alarming rate. I once heard that people in jail that belong to an outside gang want to stay in jail. These inmates will reoffend quickly either inside or out because they feel safer in jail. What kind of life must this person have that has led to this solution.    

No one cares about your feelings. I can't imagine how ruthless you would have to be to not care about people's feelings. It bothers me when I know I have hurt someone's feelings. I feel you can always get your message across in a kind way, that leaves the person's feelings and self-worth intact. Some people enjoy setting others straight. That is important to them to be right at all costs. A difference of opinion is just that, it doesn't mean one is right and one is wrong, just different.  

                        

To learn a lesson like I did at a child's movie surprised me. I was surprised at how excited I was to see how the movie would end. Not only did I learn the 3 Rules of the Street, but so much more. The biggest lesson for me was that I take trust and kindness for granted. It is one of those give and take kind of way of living. There are people out there that believe in us, and we have a good life because of it. While others have never known how that feels. Every part of their life has been a struggle. Let's all hope, like in the movie, maybe they will find a way to turn that around.