Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mule Who Put On Airs

My 2015 fable "The Mule Who Put on Airs" has a message that has stuck with me. It is representative of a fatal flaw within humans that seems to only be getting worse. Pay very close attention. Chances are you have met a person like the mule in the story. Enjoy!

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Once, there was a mule who thought he was not respected. He saw how the horses were fed the best hay and were shod in the finest metal. Thinking he deserved such things, he marched inside and partook of the feast as if he belonged there. “What are you doing?” asked a horse. Said the mule, “Am I not a living beast as you? I shall take what I want.” “But what have you done to deserve such things?” asked another horse. The mule replied, “I slave for the farmer who beats me in an unjustified way when I stop to rest. I am a mistreated animal, and therefore, I shall eat the best hay as recompense.” The horses saw that this mule was deserving of no special treatment, so they all struck him with their hooves until he was run off. As the mule limped away, he said to himself, “I did not ask to be born into such responsibility. Woe is me!”

Moral: Birth accompanies no entitlements.

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This fable was written in a very similar style to that of Aesop. The character's roles were quickly presented and executed. Fables were always intended to be brief, and this story is as brief as it can possibly be considering the material that needed to be presented.

You will also note that multiple lines of conversational dialog are wrapped up in the same paragraph. Most fables do this as another way to keep the story from taking up too much space. Certain grammar rules simply get dropped for that reason.

Once again, a moral is included. I do not always feel confident about my morals, but in this case, I cannot even imagine a more perfectly written one. It sums up the purpose of the story eloquently. I am quite proud of this one.

But let's get serious about what it means...

I am sorry, but everyone--and I mean everyone--has the short time that they are alive to prove themselves. There was never meant to be free rides for anyone. I consider lazy entitled people to be one of the greatest evils on this planet. This rather traditionally written fable shows this problem perfectly.

Everyone wants to be fair. People seem to think that we all deserve the same treatment. If we were all equally good people then that would make sense. But unfortunately there are many out there who are trying as hard as they can to milk the system for all that it is worth while simultaneously trying to work as little as they can.

There is an insane belief among many people that we all deserve to be treated fairly. That simply isn't true. Those who work hard deserve such things. They may not get it, but they do deserve it. But there are many who clearly don't deserve anything good because they never bothered to be good themselves. I see this all the time. What is worse is that these entitled brats can get very ugly and cruel when their free ride is taken away from them. They will sometimes even cause harm to others in revenge.

There are good people and there are bad people--which all depends on the decisions they make. Blanket entitlements embolden the bad and cripples the good. The mule in the story felt entitled to wealth simply for having been born. He even used the popular excuse that he did not ask to be born. That is actually not an excuse. We all have the right to choose to be good people and help out or to be a lazy good-for-nothing that is ultimately a blight on the world.

I do not like these people.

I do not need these people.

Our world would be better if they all disappeared.

ALL PEOPLE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE BETTER!

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