Cheating? Rules Are For The Other Guy.

It has been drummed into us since we were children to honor our elders, but why? Just because..because seniors and sages are supposed to be wise, law abiding, living examples of the golden rule. That said, I have a hard time with some attitudes here in the capital city of Trenton by folks who should be setting an example.

I am talking about cheating.

Cheating in the capital city of New Jersey?

Puleeze.

Did you know that seventy five percent of Mercer County's non-profits are in the city of Trenton? This makes us kinda top heavy in tax exempt properties, but I was flabbergasted at how many buildings are churches. This must mean we are one of the saintliest cities in the state, perhaps even in the country.

So what would a church be expected to do? Provide guidance. Set moral levels and help those who are marooned or sinking in the morass of the current economy. Churches must be the north star in a moral compass, propping up the complex local society, maintaing a comfort zone for the average resident, while defining the separation of church and state.

Doesn't the Bible say "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's"?

In a society that has to collect taxes that never seem to meet expenses, why do tax exempt entities exist at all? Well, taxes are waived for those entities whose value in society is helping homeless, addicts, the disadvantaged, those situations not as tangible as police, fire, mayors and clerks.

Has anyone ever considered that city essential services have to be paid for? Not with hat-in-hand monies from Governor Christie, but with licenses, permits, various charges and fees that keep our wheels turning.

Then there is the sense of helping our city. Local requirements and permit regulations for repair to your home or to have a garage sale are based on the expectation that you are helping to carry the freight.

On any given weekend, tables and vendors are scattered throughout the city. Sometimes the stuff is in front of stores, sometimes in front of houses, but they are all accounted for by city ordinances and fee schedules.

The vendors sell everything from mattresses to teddy bears, sneakers to motor bikes. Some are gypsies, many are floaters that change location every week, not in front of their own house, for sure. This is a quality of life issue; sometimes you see someone zipping up his pants and you know that corner of the building is going to stink tomorrow morning.

Trenton has made an effort to regulate the issue by limiting the permits issued for each location and reserving and documenting the date for the inspectors. When you see a rental van with the vendor selling at the tailgate, you wonder if the stuff is stolen. If an inspector were to walk his beat and ticket, he would have to do it a street at a time because it is such a vast problem.

Has anyone ever told these dim-witted knuckleheads that whatever monies are collected for marriage licenses, electrical permits, pedlar licenses, even float rentals and flea market permits, are all part of a complex and very challenging financial picture?

I guess not. Cheating is a way of life.

I wonder sometimes if this a left-over from an attitude that law must be "the Man" and does not apply to whatever "you" want to do. Wake up, you guys. The money that these permit requirements call for help us to run our city.

If parents have the attitude that law-abiding applies only to "the other guy", is it any wonder why we have such problems in the schools and on the streets?

All the parades in the world will not solve this problem if we do not internalize the Golden Rule.

Have a nice day.