Reading · Get Todd - Todd Schowalter

Every gym has rules. Some are posted on the wall, like “No grunting” and “Please wear shoes,” the latter apparently becoming necessary after an incident involving a man named Kyle. But there is one unwritten rule that every civilized person understands: when you’re finished using the bench, wipe it down.

Nobody wants to lie down in what appears to be the runoff from Niagara Falls.

You clean up after yourself because the next person has to use the equipment. It’s common courtesy.

Which got me thinking... why don’t we apply that same rule to America?

Lately I’ve noticed a strange attitude among people my age and older. They’ll sigh dramatically and say, “Boy, America sure has become a mess. I’m glad I won’t be around much longer, but I sure feel sorry for my kids and grandkids.”

Really?

That’s the retirement plan?

Imagine hearing that from the captain of the Titanic.

“Well, folks, I’ve got a lifeboat. Good luck with all that water.”

Our grandparents inherited a Great Depression and a world war. Instead of shrugging and saying, “Boy, this place is going downhill,” they built businesses, highways, schools, churches, neighborhoods, and industries. They left behind a country prosperous enough to produce an entire generation called the Baby Boomers.

Today we’ve become experts at posting, sharing, liking, commenting, and explaining why somebody else should solve everything. We forward articles predicting the collapse of civilization and then reward ourselves with another episode of a television series where medieval dwarfs are somehow less ridiculous than Congress.

Every major problem becomes someone else’s responsibility.

Socialism? Somebody should stop that.

Antisemitism? Somebody ought to do something.

The national debt? That’s going to sting.

The culture? Terrible.

Then we go back to arguing with strangers on Facebook because a complete stranger has once again used the wrong form of “your.”

The internet has convinced millions of Americans that they’re modern-day Winston Churchill because they typed “Exactly!” underneath somebody else’s meme.

Congratulations. You’ve successfully liberated the comments section.

I’m not suggesting everyone run for Congress. Frankly, Congress already has enough people who think a balanced budget is something you order from IKEA.

But somewhere along the way we started acting like renters instead of owners. America isn’t a hotel room where you can throw wet towels on the floor because housekeeping will deal with it. It’s your house. Your children inherit it. Your grandchildren inherit it.

If you’re worried about socialism, antisemitism, radical Islam, the economy, education, or the culture, simply announcing that you’re glad you won’t be around isn’t wisdom.

It’s littering.

The irony is that people spend thousands of dollars with attorneys making sure their grandchildren inherit Grandma’s china cabinet, a piece of furniture nobody under thirty wants, but spend almost no time thinking about the country those same grandchildren will actually live in.

Maybe we need to remember the first lesson we learned at the gym.

Don’t leave sweat on the bench.

And don’t leave a bigger mess for the next generation than the one you inherited.

Because unlike Planet Fitness, America doesn’t have an employee walking around with a spray bottle.

Everyone has heard the rule at the gym: wipe down the bench for the next person.

So why don't we apply that same thinking to our country?

I challenge the growing attitude that says, "I'm glad I won't be around... I just feel sorry for my kids and grandkids." Future generations deserve more than our complaints—they deserve our effort.

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One guest teaches us how to turn life’s biggest setbacks into incredible success. The other somehow manages to make politics funny—which may be an even bigger miracle.

We welcome Blanca Perper Greenstein, creator of the internationally acclaimed Laws of Life Talk Show, and Rich Rubino, political commentator, author, and master of humor!

Saturday at 5 PM Central on NewsTalkSTL, or catch the podcast replay afterward.

Thanks for reading Get Todd.

If this week’s column made you laugh, nod in agreement, or inspired you to leave the country in better shape than you found it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. For just $7 a month, you’ll help support the cartoons, columns, videos, podcasts, and my ongoing mission to leave a little less nonsense—and a lot more laughter—for the next generation.

As always, thank you for reading, sharing, commenting, and proving that common sense and a good sense of humor still make a pretty powerful team.

And remember...

Always wipe down the bench.

Until next time...

Todd

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Don't Leave a Mess on the Bench

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