My word is bond...a junk bond

What the hell ever happened to keeping your word? You know, you tell someone you'll do something ("Yes, I'll wax your cat") but then never show up as promised? Did personal integrity drop off the map?

I am ashamed to admit it, but I was once like this. Very fly by the seat of my pants. Tell you one thing and forget about it the next minute. It took a very rude awakening for me to realize that giving your personal oath on something actually means something. To wit: I was in high school, 16 or 17, and I was mowing lawns over the summer to make some money for various things, including the upcoming marching season for color guard. I had a friend who offered to pay the full amount of my fees if I would tend his yard every week for the whole summer. One, this was a sweetheart deal because my fees were somewhere to the tune of $500 bucks and two, this guy had a yard the size of my bathtub. "Sure, I'll do it!" A few weeks went by with no problem, but then I skipped a week. "Sorry about that, I was busy". Then another week. And after that, it was purely hit or miss as to whether I actually showed up or not. Finally, he pulled me aside and told me that he would square up with me for the work I had done so far but no longer had need of my services. He needed someone he could depend on. Man, that really cut deep. This was someone who I looked up to and admired. Total burning bush moment for me. From that point on, if I said it, I did it, end of story.

Why is it so hard for people to follow through with what they say they will do? Has the country become so narcissistic that it's become a land of self-centered egomaniacs who don't give a shit about everyone else?

And before you ask, this wasn't prompted by any one thing or person, just something I've had on my mind recently. But we really need to start holding each other more accountable for their personal vows, don't you think? Otherwise the whole country will turn into the Bush administration.