the blame game

Have you heard?  Have you heard about the latest new reality slash television game show?  It's called The Blame Game and it's coming, this fall, to an election near you. MOUSES!

Let's face it, folks, stuff happens and when it does, somebody is gonna be blamed. And if you're going to be blaming peeps, someone needs to take the blame, too. C'est la vie.

You know what they say.  They say, "When in doubt, blame the peep."  Well that's what Nissy used to say, anyway. Truth be told, I've said it, too.  Works like a charm, every time.

As least it works like a charm for us cats but that's because cats, being cats, are natural charmers, for sure.

There's also the fact that peeps really are to blame for most things that go wrong in this world so blaming a peep is kind of like making a sure bet of sorts.  Know what I mean?  MOUSES!

But peeps know how to play this game of blaming, too.  From an early age, peeps learn to blame others for their own mistakes as well as just about anything and everything that doesn't go their way.

Ever had homework?  Ever not finished your homework so you couldn't hand it in?  Ever blame the dog for eating said homework?  Ever blame the dog when you didn't actually have a dog to blame? MOUSES!

But blaming the possibly non-existent family dog is only the start of the peep blaming that is to come.  Peeps will blame anyone or anything if it means they don't have to accept the blame, themselves.

Ever listen to a peep who arrives somewhere late?  They blame the kids, the spouse and even rush-hour traffic.  Like there isn't always a lot of traffic during rush-hour.  They don't call it rush-hour for nothing.  MOUSES!

They might even blame that poor old possibly non-existent family dog.  Sorry I'm late but the dog ate my car keys.  Sound familiar?

Thing is, you can only use the dog-eaten car keys excuse once and get away with it because the more often you use it, the more unbelievable it becomes.

But you can always blame your spouse or your kids.  Kids have been known to eat a key or two, I am sure.  They say some kids will eat just about anything.  MOUSES!

Bottom line is, when things go wrong, peeps really like blaming just about everything and everyone but themselves.  They blame global warming on the planet or other countries or the peeps down the street.  They blame the state of the economy on the price of oil or other countries or the peeps down the street.  They blame the mess in the Senate on the Senate itself or...  Need I go on? MOUSES!

But speaking of politicians, they play The Blame Game better than anyone else.  Have you ever heard a politician blame themselves?  Have you ever heard a politician say, "It's my fault."  Ever? Never?  MOUSES!

Oh sure, sometimes they'll accept responsibility in a roundabout way but the words,"It's my fault," have you ever heard them say those words?  Just like that?

And more often than not, they'll try to convince you there isn't really a problem at all.  It's all in your imagination.  All in your head.  By gosh, according to some politicians, my head must be a very crowded place.  MOUSES!

I remember way back when, when I peed on the peep.  As you can imagine, it didn't go over very well.  Let's just say, there were complaints.  But did I try to blame the peep for my having peed upon her?  Did I...

Uh actually...  That might not be the best of examples because truth be told, I did blame the peep for that.  Wouldn't have peed on her had she not been standing in my way.

And let me tell you something.  You pee on a peep - once - and they never let you forget it. MOUSES!

Well the peep wasn't accepting any of the blame for that little incident.  Never has and probably never will.  Not even an ounce.  Not even for a minute.

What I should have done was find some other peep to blame and in fact, if I were to pee on the peep today, that's exactly what I would do.

That's just how it is, you know?  When stuff goes wrong, somebody needs to take the blame.  You can accept blame yourself or you can find a patsy to accept it for you.  Delegate the blame, so to speak.  It's the way of the world, my friends.  The way of the world.

Take today, for instance.  This here blog post is going up late.  I was late in writing it because I hadn't finished the pictures for what I had originally intended to post but it's not my fault.  It's all the weather's fault for being stormy and preventing me from working on-line, yesterday, during the thunderstorms.  Yup, I'm blaming the weather.  Blaming some guy named Nigel, too.  Yup, I'm blaming them both, for sure.

What's that, Peepers?  Something wrong? You didn't get what done?

Don't fret, Peepers.  Do you know what you should do?  You should come on dawn and play THE BLAME GAME!

Peepers, you should blame Nigel. Everyone's doing it and word on the street is, this dude is willing to accept the blame for pretty much EVERYTHING.  Even stuff he couldn't possibly have done and wasn't really his fault.  Even has his own hashtag, BlameNigel, now.  Blaming him appears to be the True North Canadian thing to do and after all, Peepers, you are a Canadian peep.  You should blame him, for sure. MOUSES!

might I suggest...

DON'T GET ON THAT TRAIN! 

You don't have to get on that ol' train, you know.  You can take a different train.  One goin' someplace else.  Or you can just stand there and let that nasty ol' train go by.  You have choices.  We all have choices.  We always all have choices.  It's just that sometimes we don't wanna make 'em.

Lately, I've been listening to people talk about how they've been railroaded.  Railroaded into doin' stuff they didn't wanna do.  Goin' along with things, they knew were wrong.  All I can say to those people is what I've said before...  DON'T GET ON THAT TRAIN! 

Very rarely do peeps truly get railroaded.  Very rarely does someone grab 'em in the middle of the night when they're innocently sound asleep, throw a pillowcase over their heads and drag 'em out to the train station where they put 'em on a train and send 'em out of town with a one-way ticket to the Land of Disgrace. 

Oh sure...  if you look hard enough and for long enough, you might find a peep or two to which this has happened.  But you're gonna have to look really, really hard and for a very, very long time.  More often than not, when one investigates the railroading of peeps, what one finds is a peep who himself purchased that ticket to Disgraceland.  It's very unlikely that it was thrust upon him, completely unwittingly.

He might have had some help, yes.  There might have been some cajoling.  Other peeps might have been doin' their darnedest to convince him that really, everything was gonna be okay if he just went along with what they wanted him to do.  That really, everything was above board.  That really and truly, that train they wanted him to board wasn't headin' for the Land of Disgrace at all.

In fact, the Land of Disgrace was probably never even mentioned.  The peeps doin' the luring probably called it somethin' else.  Somethin' nicer.  Somethin' that would help with the luring of the peep to be railroaded onto that ol' train.

One must always question the character of peeps doin' the luring of other peeps.  Peeps doin' the act of cajoling.  Tellin' other peeps what they wanna hear.  These are the very same peeps who will be the railroaded peeps' travelling companions. 

I don't know 'bout you but if I'm takin' a long train ride, I'm gonna want to take that ride with peeps I like and respect.  Peeps I can trust.  Peeps I can trust to not throw me under the bus...  uh...  I mean, train.  Sorry 'bout that.

I don't wanna be takin' a long train ride with peeps in flea-ridden suits.  One of their fleas might hop onto me or somethin'.  Wouldn't want that.  One must always choose one's travelling companions, wisely.  Never just go with the flow, so to speak.  You're gonna want to know exactly where that flow is going.  Not to mention, what might be in it.

But what happens if you honestly don't realise you're bein' railroaded until after you're already on the train?  You didn't know you were gettin' on that train.  You thought you were gettin' on a different train.  A better train.  A train with a better destination.  Help!  HELP!!!  You can yell for help all you like but truth be told, it's very difficult to be heard over the noise bein' made by a train except, of course, by the other people on that very same train...  your travelling companions.

But you still have choices.  Choice number one would be to get off that ol' train. 

Take a good look at that first-class ticket in your little paw and ask yourself, do I really want to go all the way?  Do I really want to go all the way to the Land of Disgrace?  If the answer is no, you make the decision right there and then to get off that train at the very next stop.  You leave your travelling companions behind and allow them to travel to Disgraceland all on their own.  You don't hang on, hoping that everything will be okay.  Hoping that everything will work out when you really know, in your heart of hearts, that it won't.

But there are no stops, you say.  This particular train is travellin' non-stop from here to the Land of Disgrace.

Never.  Every train has to slow down at some point, somewhere.  There's always an opportunity.  An opportunity to get off.  You just have to watch for it.  Every train will slow down enough for anyone who wants to get off to do so.  Sure, you might have to jump off when it's still movin' a bit but far better that than ending up at its final destination.  Far, far better that than ending up at its final destination.  Just keep in mind what that destination is.

When you realise where the train you're on is headed and you realise that that's a place you do not want to do, you need to get off the train.  You need to get off it, no matter what the cost.  'Cause gettin' off the train, is the right thing to do.

Doin' the right thing isn't always the easiest thing to do.  Sometimes, it's the most difficult thing any peep will ever do.  But doin' the right thing is always the right thing to do.  The sooner you do it, the better and in the end, it will always be worth it.

And one more thing.  Those peeps who lured you onto that train headin' to the Land of Disgrace?  Well they're still on that train.  They never got off.  They didn't think they had to.  Peeps like that never do.  Peeps like that tend to be arrogant.  So very arrogant that they think whatever comes their way, will wash right off them.  Nothin' will ever stain their flea-ridden suits.  They believe they can remain in control of any situation at paw.  They believe they can outsmart everyone around them...  manipulate the masses.

Oddly enough, those lurin', cajolin' and controllin' peeps couldn't figure out the most important thing of all.  They couldn't figure out that when they lured the peeps bein' railroaded onto the train headin' for disaster, they bought one-way tickets for themselves, too. They bought themselves all one-way tickets for the Land of Disgrace.   Apparently, no one ever told 'em...  DON'T GET ON THAT TRAIN!