A New Kind of Entitlement

Today I was in McDonald's grabbing a bite to eat before some meetings. At a booth in front of me was a mother and 2 children. She had her netbook out, and was calling someone on her cell phone. Her MP3 player was lying near the Netbook. I saw no evidence that they had ordered anything. When they rose to leave, she had a HUGE stack of napkins in her hand, and her youngest child has a handful of straws. It reminded me of a story an intern of mine told me once. She was living with her grandparents while attending college nearby. She said she hated to go out to eat with them because they took everything that wasn't tied down. One day she came into the office laughing. "Today", she said, "my grandmother said as she prepared lunch, 'Irving, we've got to go back to Burger King. We're almost out of napkins.'"

So, back to the family in McD's. With enough money to afford a netbook, cell phone, & MP3 player, they still had to steal napkins??? The mother evidently set the example for the kids. I remember hearing Bill Gothard say, "What the parents do in moderation, their children will do to excess." Is it any wonder we have a society that thinks the "haves" must pay the way for the "have-nots".

I think the apostle Paul summed it up very well when he penned, "If a man does not work, he should not eat."