I don't care either

A lot is being made of Romney's comment that he allegedly doesn't care about the people that are more interested in what they can take from the government than in what they can do for themselves.

You know what? To be honest, I don't care about the "takers," either. I deal with "takers" - not the kind Romney referenced, but still "takers" - on a daily basis. Some of them are people who sit on their butts and complain about the volunteer efforts you are doing, how you are not doing enough for them, without ever becoming involved themselves. We recently lost a family from church who complained that the youth program wasn't "good enough" and that there were no youth Sunday school teachers.

And yet, when they were asked to assist....they always said "No." And a lot of the time, they didn't even show up for youth group.

And I see takers all the time among my students. I have one now: e-mailed me two late papers expecting I'd cheerfully grade them. Or people who think they can skip lab and then I'll set it back up, just for them, so they don't lose those points.

And I see takers among some of the faculty - who refuse to do committeework, who insist on schedules where they have certain days free, even if that means their colleagues get hit with crappy schedules or extra committee work. 

Okay, I have to admit: I DO care about the elderly poor, the people who need a hand up in their lives (but I think a hand up, getting them able to work for themselves, is preferable to having them dependent all their lives). I care about kids whose parents don't seem to give a crap about them. Though I would argue we should as much take care of these people through NGOs and faith groups as we do with tax dollars: it seems to me that smaller, more localized groups are more efficient at getting help where it's needed than a giant bureaucracy is.

But the kinds of takers who sit on their butts and complain because the free cookies are oatmeal instead of chocolate chip? I'm done with them.