From the Mouths of Rats »
So he's not Paul. Rat, from Pearls Before Swine, can occasionally give him a run for his money when it comes to words of wisdom. This time is no exception. After running through a laundry list of faults from his neighbors (house color, barking dogs, car alarms, mowing lawns), he declares "Whoever said 'Love Your Neighbor' never could have foreseen the idiots that live on our block".
How true. And how utterly ridiculous at the same time. We tend to overlook the larger issues - sparing the lives of murderers, forgiving crime after crime against our neighbors. But paint your house the wrong color, or skip mowing your yard? That's simply too much.
The book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff has nothing on this, implying that it is all small stuff. But this stuff is that which we know shouldn't bother us - that we simply swallow because we'd think it stupid to voice the issue. All the while it builds and builds and builds because there is no release. The title should probably be Look Out for the Small Stuff - You'll See the Big Stuff Coming.
