There is an old bit of wisdom that goes "no good deed goes unpunished". It implies that no matter how hard you try, the world is going to find a way to screw you over. It seems today that is more true than it has ever been. Now more than ever the victim mentality is front and center. Everyone feels they have been wronged in some way, and everyone also feels like all their problems are someone else's fault.
On the flip side, there is also a saying accredited to P.T. Barnum that says "there is a sucker born every minute"
Accidents happen, and while we wish there was some kind of answer or explanation for why, they just do. The sooner you can accept that and move on with your life, the happier you will be. On the other hand, there are those who simply draw misfortune to themselves. More often than not through their bad decisions. Which reminds me of another quote I heard one time:
"You aren't unlucky, you just make bad decisions"
This past weekend, amidst the national dumpster fire that has been proliferating the news, I heard a local story, that is so crazy, you wouldn't believe it is true.
In a small town in Michigan, kind of out in the country, not really near any big towns, there was a lady who lived in a house. I'm guessing she owned the house or at the very least had a mortgage, they don't quite say, but just know that this lady was living in this house.
Apparently, she made friends (or something) with some vagabond type folks that were living in an old school bus. They asked the lady if they could park the bus in her driveway for a bit, and out of he goodness of her heart (or pure stupidity) she agreed.
Fast forward several months later, the people are still living in the bus on her property, she wants them gone, but the bus is broke down and they can't move it. Meanwhile, the people were having mail delivered to the bus, so now according to the police they have established some form of residency, so they can't just forcefully remove them from the property.
To add insult to injury, the people got tired of the lady bugging them to get off her property, so they filed a restraining order and according to the lady, she can't even be in her own house now because it is too close to the bus and therefore a violation of the restraining order.
They did an interview with the local police department, and as you would expect, their logic was about as inept as can be.
Given the backwoods nature of this town, I'm actually surprised one of the local guys with a tractor hasn't hooked up to the bus and removed it from the property for the lady out of the goodness of their heart.
Make no mistake, I am sure there is probably a lot more to this story than any of us will ever know. It's pretty crazy though how people are able to work the system to make life miserable for someone just trying do the right thing. It has become far too common these days squatters basically taking over properties without the owner even knowing it due to some misguided attempts to be fair. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for taking care of those who are less advantaged, but there is a point where people know they are gaming the system.
It's easy to think things like this are just a big city problem. I've heard quite a few stories down in the Detroit area of people being basically run out of their houses in situations like this or similar.
There's a song that goes "Try that in a small town", but the sad thing is, this is happening in a small town. I'm actually kind of interested to see what happens with it now that the local news has covered it and public outcry will likely be at a fever pitch.
Of course, there will likely be those who support the people in the bus and paint them as the victim.
No good deed.... right?
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