Honey-green just isn’t your color.

Jealousy doesn’t look good on anyone. I suppose it’s human nature to feel occasional pangs of envy, but we can’t let it get the best of us. Remember the Tenth Commandmant? Besides being a strong dictate it’s also pretty good advice.

A co-worker of mine, I’ll call her Tish, does nice things for people and is generally pleasant and friendly. She even shares her chocolat, so she’s been fine by me. Since I don’t pay Tish’s salary it’s easy to tune out the non-stop “beep, beep, beep” of her text messages, her numerous personal phone calls and the sordid details of her sex life. I even disregard her liberal political commentary. But lately some of Tish’s comments have gotten under my skin.

One morning the salary of a professional baseball player came up and Tish blurted out “That makes me sick! Why do we pay baseball players so much when teachers are so poor?” (The player in question isn’t even a New York Yankee, thank goodness or Tish may have had a stroke.) I go to the office to do my job, not to debate politics and philosophy, so I didn’t remind Tish that most teachers are not poor (especially in New York). I also didn’t explain to her that public teachers are paid by taxpayers. Baseball players are paid by the free market. If fans stop watching baseball on TV, going to games and buying MLB gear the salaries of baseball players will adjust accordingly.

On another occasion someone brought up a movie, Tish said about the starring actress “I hate her! She doesn’t deserve to make so much money!” Again, she just doesn’t seem to understand the whole free market thing. If Tish’s comments stopped there I probably wouldn’t feel compelled to write about her. But something she did the other day really steamed my beans.

Tish was on a website that lists the salaries of New York State employees, and she made a point of letting the whole office know what she was doing. I asked who she was looking up and she nonchalantly replied “My friends.” A few minutes later she called another friend and said (in a nasty tone) “So-and-so and her husband make more than $200,000 a year! Can you believe that? Blah! Blah! Blah!” I later found out that her so-called friends have jobs that require extensive education and experience. They did not just waltz into those positions. Remind me not to get on Tish’s bad side.

So, you ask, what does Tish have to do with politics? Many politicians, but Democrats, in particular play to the Tish’s of America. You rarely hear them celebrate the hard work and sacrifice it takes to become successful. Instead they villify achievement and profit, as if success should bring shame and condemnation. (Unless, of course, you happen to be a life-long politician.) They foment envy, it’s like fertilizer for the seeds of their socialist agenda.

Someone should tell Tish that if she puts as much effort into her job as she does into her grudges; that if she tries emulation rather than condemnation, she just may achieve the success she so desires. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for a politician to do it.