What to do when the House leaves the House
Have you ever had a house guest overstay their welcome? You know the one. They take over your house. Before you let them in they seem respectful and gracious and you can’t wait to spend some time with them. The first few days are just as you imagined. They are quite good guests. But by the end of the first week, things begin to change. They begin to act as if your house is now exclusively theirs. They take over every crevice. They begin to no longer listen to you or care about your needs. They begin making decisions about your money and life that in the end ruin your finances and cause fights between you and your family.
You finally realize what a mistake you have made. After all, you let them in to begin with. You can only blame yourself for falling for their charm and the promise of mutual respect. In other words, you let yourself be duped.
But you have been down this road before. You know the only cure will come when you can finally show them the door in the distant future – maybe in only two years, if you are lucky.
But you are tired of relying on luck. You are tired of being held hostage by their shenanigans in your own house. You know you have to do something right now. There is no more time for patiently waiting.
There is really just one thing to do. You wait patiently for your opportunity when they voluntarily leave and then you lock them out. You know that eventually they will leave. After all, they need to go brag to their friends about their cushy life in your house. They need to go somewhere else to feel important in front of more people. You know that day will come. So you wait.
Finally, that beautiful sunny day comes. They announce they must take a short trip. But they promise to return in very short order. As they open the door to leave, your heart begins to race. You find it almost impossible to hide your excitement. The small chit chat that precedes their departure is just one more form of torment. But you hold it together. You smile as you try not to engage them too much for fear they will stay.
Your guests finally open the door. With a few waves over their shoulders, they are gone. You run to the door and bolt it shut. You are so grateful that you had never given them the key. You slump against the door and sigh. You vow to never allow them or anyone else like them back in again. But your relief is short-lived. Now the real work will come. You have a life and a family to repair. Hopefully, it won’t take you as long as it takes to build a country.
The moral of the story is multifaceted. And we can discuss it a length or not. But before we do, we but a short opportunity as Americans to save our country. With the debt ceiling ready to ruin our lives and our finances, it might be time to just go over to the Capitol door and just lock it. It won’t fix a thing. There will still be lots to do to repair our country and our relationships. But at least maybe with the door locked, we can get our guests out long enough to figure it out.
Oh if were just that easy.