In response to the Oct. 2 Uncommon Ground article, titled “Grandma’s Values,” it’s easy for all of us to identify with the ideas put forth about our grandmas’ values. But in our opinion, grandma would want us to lay all her values on the table and she would caution her grandchildren to avoid the urge to use her values that support an argument while ignoring her values that don’t support the argument.
Besides her value of caring for others, she would remind them of her important task of watching the family budget to make sure the family is living within its means. She would explain that when new expenses arise in areas that she thinks are critical, like feeding the family and paying for a doctor, she would make the family cut back in areas that aren’t essential.
She would explain that everyone in the family has their own pet reason for wanting to spend money and that they’re all very good at making it sound like the most important thing in the world. She would explain that if money is borrowed for all the different things that every family member wants to do, without a concrete plan for paying it back, it’s a recipe for financial disaster.
She would tell her grandchildren that she and grandpa have noticed in their lifetimes that whenever politicians’ budgets are defeated, the very first thing that comes out of their mouths is that their only option is to cut 911 services, fire, police and family assistance programs. Grandma would tell her grandchildren that that tactic has always seemed dishonest to her and grandpa and they wonder why the politicians don’t bear down in the first place and keep the non-essentials under control, just like the family has always had to do.
Guy and Joy Smith
Seattle