by Jake Katz
Many say that a nation’s government reflects its people, so three weeks ago, when the government shut down, I did the American thing: I shut down, too.
Many say that a nation’s government reflects its people, so three weeks ago, when the government shut down, I did the American thing: I shut down, too.
Lighter Side
The first thing I noticed about the shutdown was that the government didn’t have to cut the grass at national monuments and didn’t need to pick up their garbage.Taking a cue from them, I gave up doing my chores as well. This meant no dishes, no more taking out the garbage and no more folding laundry.
Giving up my chores gave me a lot of time to do other American things like watch three seasons of Breaking Bad in one weekend, and make more fantasy football trades as I try to not come in last in my league for the fourth straight year.
Not only did the government shutdown get me out of doing my chores, it also gave me the best excuse when my mom confronted me about it. Whenever she asked me why there were no clean dishes or why the garbage bins weren’t empty, I just said, “But if the government doesn’t have to do it, why should I?”
My mom also preached that I should always try to work out my conflicts, but it looks like she’s wrong again. Now that the government is back up and running, I proved to her that when things get too tough, you should just shut them down until they pick themselves back up.
So the next time my teacher yells at me for not taking notes on The Kite Runner, instead of apologizing, I can just ignore the problem until it magically disappears. Thanks to the government, I now know that when I have a dispute I no longer need to talk it out; instead, I can just ignore it until the problem goes away.
This is a huge weight off my shoulders because compromising can be difficult. But thanks to the government, I now know I don’t have to. Yep, I’ve learned a lot from those 16 days.
Giving up my chores gave me a lot of time to do other American things like watch three seasons of Breaking Bad in one weekend, and make more fantasy football trades as I try to not come in last in my league for the fourth straight year.
Not only did the government shutdown get me out of doing my chores, it also gave me the best excuse when my mom confronted me about it. Whenever she asked me why there were no clean dishes or why the garbage bins weren’t empty, I just said, “But if the government doesn’t have to do it, why should I?”
My mom also preached that I should always try to work out my conflicts, but it looks like she’s wrong again. Now that the government is back up and running, I proved to her that when things get too tough, you should just shut them down until they pick themselves back up.
So the next time my teacher yells at me for not taking notes on The Kite Runner, instead of apologizing, I can just ignore the problem until it magically disappears. Thanks to the government, I now know that when I have a dispute I no longer need to talk it out; instead, I can just ignore it until the problem goes away.
This is a huge weight off my shoulders because compromising can be difficult. But thanks to the government, I now know I don’t have to. Yep, I’ve learned a lot from those 16 days.