Right vs. Privilege

It\’s been a rough week so far, but I\’m amazed at what I\’ve gotten done. Sunfox has made leaps and bounds, and although an official release hasn\’t been made yet, I\’m very happy with how it\’s turning out. JR has 2 sites running in it now, both holding up very well to the pressures. I\’ve gotten a few bug reports but they were all dealt with swiftly, and were mostly to do with browser differences between computers, no functionality.

All that said, I\’ve also made a few discoveries in the last few days of things that rock. To start with, I\’m in love with Google analytics. It\’s an amazing program for tracking how your website is working. I\’m looking forward to implementing it on a few sites. I currently am testing it on 2, and although I haven\’t gotten to try out the feature that matters most to me, I love what it\’s been able to do so far. If you want to give it a try, go sign up. It took about 3 weeks for me to get off the wait list, but it\’s worth the wait. I feel privileged to have been allowed to use such a great free tool!

And that brings us to the next point… I was talking to Alex today and he reminded me of something that irks me. It\’s the difference between a privilege and a right. The classic example is the bus. Kids often don\’t realize that there is no \"state law\" that says the school district must provide transportation to it\’s students if the students break the rules (there is one if they don\’t, charter schools use it all the time). Living in your parents house after your 18, often feels like a right, but it too is a kind of a privilege. (Thanks mom and dad!). All that said, what is friendship?

By being friends with someone is that a privilege or a right? That question is easy, but it gets harder when you ask about the benefits that person can provide. Think about this, Richard (sorry sim, just seemed like the best person to use as an example), wants to go out with Amber (after I magically broke up with her). The United States government would say he has the right to do that. But because he\’s my friend, I have the right to say he cant… Oh wait… That\’s a privilege. Same goes with borrowing stuff, using friend\’s skills, and asking for favors.

As a good friend, I believe you should provide things for your friends if you have the ability to do so. As a good friend, I believe you should be gracious to the friends that serve you (Shoutout to Alex for always letting me use his site as a test for google\’s new products).

There is a point though where a friend starts to treat what they are being served as a \’right\’. When this happens, people often take it personally. Again for example, if every week for the last year I gave away free lobsters to all my friends… And then one week decided that I couldn\’t afford it… It\’s possible that my friends would feel upset… Especially if I continued to serve it to other people…

The fact is, nothing has come to the point where I\’m not able to do things for my friends. There is a point though where your asking to much, or at least not being thankful for what your getting. It\’s the people who think the world \"owes\" it to them. Whether it\’s a client or friend, the fact of the matter is… The only person I OWE anything to is Christ (and anyone I might have taken a loan from). That may come across somewhat selfish, and it is… I love giving for no reason, not because my friends feel it\’s owed… But when I feel like they think I owe them for it… That\’s when I get upset..

And no, to all of you who think this is entirely about friends in my life… It\’s not, I quite possibly am rambling on about this issue because of a client, relative, or someone I don\’t even know but considers me there friend.

Needless to say, the moral of the story is this: Always serve others more than your getting. Always be greatful for what your getting. And be respectful if you\’ve taken it to far of the person who\’s told you that.

Wow, don\’t think I\’ve gone on a rant like that for awhile.

In other news… Um… I have no other news.