On Wednesday Rob Kardashian took to social media to let the world know what his fiancé (or maybe his wife, given previous hints at a secret marriage), Blac Chyna, was really about, and how many men that included. Snoop Dogg and much of the Internet didn’t feel sorry for Rob. Despite the atrocious things his former love has done to him, the older rapper told Rob, “She is what is she. She was what she was.” And he’s not wrong.
https://twitter.com/TheShadeRoom/status/882646912934887426
Uncle Snoop gave a classic Aesop’s fable a modern twist in his public take on the ever-dramatic Kardashian family. Here’s the illustrative entry from Aesop.
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream, and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp, “Why?”
The scorpion replies: “It’s my nature.”
Although I’m one to believe in karma (and, boy, does this family have a lot of dramatic karma coming their way), I can’t help but feel sorry for Rob. Yes, he did propose to and maybe marry a stripper, who had a child by a rapper, who then dated a different Kardashian while she used him for money and cheated on him, repeatedly sending Rob photos of her cheating with other men, lately while her and Rob’s new daughter, Dream, was in the house.
But I cannot help but think that this poor man was in some way trying to make good on a less-than-ideal situation, because he actually loved a woman, despite her past and the warnings from others. As the story continues to unfold, several lessons have, too. It’s always a good time to stop and look for the valuable reminders that fables, folktales, and the golden rule teach us. Here are four others besides the scorpion tale.
The Golden Rule
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Golden Rule reminds us to behave as though what you do to someone will be done to you. The number of people who have been associated with Kardashians over the years, whether in romantic relationships or monetary, have often not come out as well as the Kardashians themselves.
Romantic partners rotate around like a ballroom full of dancers, and everything they touch turns into a money-grab publicity stunt. It’s only a matter of time before some of that gets turned back around. Much like the flies in the honeypot, pleasure bought with pain hurts in the end. If you look for the good in others and treat them with authentic respect, the blessings will be returned. If you honor your partner and respect your spouse, you can expect the same in return.
The Grass Isn’t Always Greener
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side: Appreciate what you have. If your partner is loyal, honest, kind, and has your best interest at heart, value those gifts. Someone else’s life may look easier, more glamorous, and enviable, but we are all battling our own demons and walking a journey unlike anyone else’s.
The Kardashians are no exception. They may have massive social media followings and money, but people use them in ways that most of us are not. Many of us would rather have a loyal partners and authentic friends rather than flashes of attention and others using us for their own selfishness. Once you live a day in someone’s shoes, you may quickly learn that you do not want what they have. Or, as the tortoise learned from the eagle, if men had all they wished, they would often be ruined.
The Tale of Avaricious and Envious
In Aesop’s “Avaricious and Envious,” the god Jupiter grants Avaricious and Envious their hearts’ desires, so long as they know the other will get double. Avaricious grieves himself by finding that his neighbor gets double the gold he wished for, and Envious wishes for one of his own eyes to be put out. The moral: Vices are their own punishment.
Greed and envy are real sins that cause harm to you and those around you. As Rob and Chyna are learning in real time, damaging others for the sake of having more for yourself, whether it be money, advancement, revenge, attention, or happiness, will come back to haunt you.
It’s rumored that Chyna used Rob all along to get money, fame, and retaliation on her oldest son’s father, who dated Rob’s sister. But all that selfishness and manipulation has proven her to be as bad, if not worse, than the family she used.
Honest communication and loyalty are the foundations of any good relationship. And clearly these celebrities are more focused on attention for themselves and harming others than being good role models for their children or demonstrating character that their families would be proud of. Then again, maybe the matriarchal Kardashian has led by example.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The boy who cried wolf: The Kardashians are the perfect example of this well-known fable. With headlines splashed across magazines every day, television shows galore and products on shelves across the globe, each and every time something goes wrong, a Kardashian cries fowl (queue Kim’s ugly cry).
But with each instance the public cares less and less about the pain and believes less and less in the “reality.” Thus, when those who make drama daily actually experience trauma, no one cares to be a supportive shoulder to cry on. Hence the public’s reaction to the scandal between Rob and Chyna.
A further lesson to be learned is that your personal life should be just that: personal. The poor children involved in this chaos are too young to understand how awful their parents are, but they won’t be for long. And how will they look to their parents in the future? Certainly not as role models or victims.
