Save breadcrumbs for meatballs. Use your brain.

There are times during my day when I seriously believe that folks have breadcrumbs for brains. I’m not knocking breadcrumbs since they add to the flavor and consistency of Italian meatballs, but I am questioning what faculties folks use when they should be thinking.

You see adults and youngsters walking into the street, talking or texting on their cellphones and not giving a thought to the approaching car where the driver is also talking or texting, or eating or attempting to calm a dog or a child in the back seat.

You see drivers speeding through parking lots and exceeding speed limits on city streets and on the freeways. If they get pulled over by a police officer, their brain goes into overdrive trying to come up with a story about why they had to speed or they claim they weren’t speeding at all. They were perfectly happy going along their merry way speeding with no thought of the disaster they could cause.

Folks of all ages get into a car after having a few drinks and think nothing of the misery and tragedy they could cause should an accident occur.

Parents yell at their kids, yank them by the arm or give them a whack and expect good results. Guess these parents learned these maneuvers from their parents.

Let’s take the kids when we go out drinking and let them “play” down the street from where we’re getting inebriated. They’ll be fine. We know how to hold our liquor and watch them at the same time.

When it comes to taking responsibility for actions, the responsibility belongs to someone else. The teacher or principal is wrong. Little Johnny or Suzie cannot be at fault. Sue the teacher or principal or school district. It is the educational system’s job to be responsible for what every child learns. It is their responsibility. We pay taxes to have teachers teach.

Thinking with breadcrumbs for brains tells us the government is the problem. There are too many rules and regulations. All politicians are inept and corrupt.

We know how to fix the country. Stay out of our lives and leave us alone.

We have to relax after a difficult week at work and enjoy ourselves. There’s the big game or the big fight to watch. We’ve got to impress someone with the big boat and water toys we’re taking to the lake. We can use our breadcrumbs later to think about how we’re going to pay for all this relaxation.

Someone else is going to make sure the electricity works, the water flows, the roads are fixed and the kids have “baby sitters” who are supposed to turn out perfect people. In an emergency, there is always 911.

Hey, we pay for this!

We pay for sure, in lots of different ways. We pay when we don’t spend any time learning what positions politicians hold and what the Legislature is up to every other year. We pay when we listen to one side of an issue and never take into consideration the other. We pay even more when we don’t vote.

We can always think with our breadcrumbs and say that somebody else is going to do it, but only you can cast your ballot and say what you want to be said. Your opinion matters and don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t. Individuals throughout history have changed the world with their voices.

Early voting is underway at City Hall and will continue from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. through Saturday. The hours for voting at your polling place are from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. June 2.

If you want to use breadcrumbs, come over to my house and we’ll make meatballs.

Rose Ann Miele is a journalist and was public information officer for Boulder City for nine years. She can be reached at roseannrab@hotmail.com or at 702-347-9924.