I once stuffed a quart of beer into my mailbox along with a couple of ziplock bags filled with ice. It was a gift for the mail carrier. Earlier in the week, I received a notice that I had forgotten to put postage on a couple of letters that I was attempting to mail. Upon going to the post office to pay the fee, I was informed that my mail carrier had been nice enough to pay the postage for me.

I felt particularly humbled that the mailman would be so kind as to pay my postage. I realize it was only a dollar or so, but he delivers a lot of mail. He can’t just run around town like the mail fairy, granting free postage for boneheads, like me, who are more inclined to lick windows than stamps.

Being that, at the time, my favorite thing in the world was cold beer, I thought it would be nice to leave a cold one for the mailman. When I arrived home that afternoon, I found that the beer had been removed, and it had been replaced with a “Thank you” card. The card read,

“I love Budweiser. Thank you.
From L****,
your mail carrier.”

I thought that the note was thoughtful and appreciated him taking the time to write it. What was strange to me though, was that he had placed a stamp on the “Thank you” card which he had placed directly into my mailbox. Someone suggested to me that there was probably a law which required him to pay for a stamp if he was going to place something in a person’s mailbox. While I agreed that this was probably the case, I would imagine there is some sort of law that prohibits taking quarts of beer outside of customer’s mailboxes, especially when working. I felt that if he was going to bend the rules and accept my alcoholic gift, he would probably be willing to skirt past the stamping of the envelope.

People are strange when it comes to their stance on principles. It’s a crazy thing to see how firmly we will stand on one rule, while loosely holding onto the others. It’s amazing to watch how quickly people will judge gay marriage, as the gossip to their friends over glasses of wine before getting behind the wheel. It’s interesting to see how strong people feel about the topic of abortion, as they make racist remarks about the people who were fortunate enough to have been given life. It’s saddening to see how thoroughly we will quote the Bible on one topic, while gently glazing over the areas that pertain to us. It’s ironic how quickly we will jump on the teachers who educate our children, as we allow our kids to gaze into their video game screens, stay up past their bedtime, and feed their faces with sugary crap-food, before dropping them off at school and expecting them to learn. It’s crazy how quickly we point out how another person chooses to dress, but it doesn’t occur to us how quick we are to judge (and that most people prefer an odd style to a judgemental grouse).

We are prime examples of living life with double-standards. The moment we judge another’s actions, outside of our own, we are immediately guilty of hypocrisy.

I set me standards based on where I am at the time. I adjust my stance, based on where my feet are placed. My morals are only as high as I think that you are aware of sins. I profess to be pure and clean, so long as you have not seen the dirty and murky waters of my soul. So quick to judge, and faster to sin. It is so much easier to point out where others are doing wrong in an effort to stay off the topic of my own shortcomings. My moral and philosophical convictions are only as solid as my current situation allows them to be. I think many of us are guilty of this on some level.

We could all be a little more aware of the eyes that roll, the throats that gag, and the whispers that occur behind our statements of judgment and our proclamations of moral correctness.

If I am going to take the beer from the box, I should only stand so firm on the lack of postage.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake