Have you ever run across someone who was just plain mean? “Mean” in this sense is the adjective form which refers to someone lacking elevating human qualities such as kindness and good will. Mean people are unkind even to the point of physical harm, and it’s obvious they do not care about other people. However, people’s motives for their actions really determine whether they are mean or not. On the surface people may appear to be mean, when in reality they are not mean at all.
To illustrate the truth of what I am saying, I want to share an article with you that I picked up at our local printer. It’s titled, “The Meanest Mother in the World,” and no author is listed. I am happy to say that my mother had many of the same qualities. If you have children or grandchildren, please think about what this article is saying and what it could mean to you personally.
The Meanest Mother in the World
As a child, I had the meanest mother in the world. She was real mean. When other kids ate candy for breakfast, she made me eat cereal, eggs and toast. When other kids had coke and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my dinner, too, was different from other kids. My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for one hour, that we would be gone for one hour or less.
She was real mean. I was ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child labor laws! She made us work! We had to wash the dishes, make all the beds and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she lay awake at night thinking up mean things for us to do. She always insisted on telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates come to the front door and get us. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 or 13, my old-fashioned mother refused to let me date until I was 15 or 16.
Boy! Was she mean. My mother was a complete failure as a mother. None of us have ever been arrested or beaten by a mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of his country – willingly, no protesting. And who do we have to blame for the way we turned out? You’re right! Our mean mother. Look at all the things we missed. We never got to take part in a riot, never burned draft cards, and got to do a million and one other things our friends did. Our mean mother made us grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my children. You see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the world. Wish we could all be that lucky and have a mean mother.
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(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)