Thankfully, we don’t live in a world where we have to use our own brains, can you imagine what that would be like? I don’t even want to know what the consequences might be if we had to think for ourselves, use common sense, make our own judgments about people, ask questions, and - God forbid - make our own decisions.

Some people waste all that time getting to know who people really are and asking questions and checking facts, rather than just believing gossip going around. They would be better off trusting everything they hear, and especially everything they see. After all, to think there are people in this world that don’t care about themselves as much as they care for other people is ludicrous. I don’t even know a word for that, hold on, let me look it up: Selfless. Wow.

Certainly people never change, we’re all better off holding grudges as long as possible.

As humans, and residents of this town, we are all automatically privy to the entire truth about everything. No need to think that maybe there are things we are protected from for our own good or the good of others.

Your business is my business, I always say.

Professionalism? Compassion? Morality? None of that matters: Whatever makes me happy is what matters to me.

Just imagine for a second a world where people offend people as a part of human nature and are forgiven for it. Just imagine if people made their own way in life and went against the grain because they believed it was right. Imagine if people opened up their hearts, their homes, their ears to others who needed them. What if people were better at something than you and that was OK? What if someone didn’t like you for a legitimate reason and, instead of hiding behind other people or things, they confronted you, worked it out, agreed to disagree, whatever.

Did you just shiver, too?

You should have because I’m telling you a world with all those things would be a scary, scary place.

Believe it.

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Editor’s note: Cassi Lapp is the news clerk/staff writer of The Times of Northeast Benton County. A Colorado native, Lapp graduated from the University of Arkansas.

She can be reached at clapp@ nwaonline.com.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/27/2010