"Good things happen to good people"

One of the weirder things about being funemployed is how much free time I have to think about the most random things. I was watching something on TV (not even sure what it was), and one of the character said "good things happen to good people." For some reason, my brain decided that this was something that I needed to think about in depth.

It's one of the least true statements I can think of that people actually say (like, I know "the sky is the same as the ocean" would be less true, but no one claims that please I hope). Who decided that this was something we should tell people?

I think the catastrophe we called an election should prove this. A reality TV star who uses social media to harass anyone who disagrees with his distorted world view somehow deluded people into voting for him. He's not a good person - not by any definition of the word good of which I am aware. Becoming a powerful leader shouldn't the reward for scamming students and advocating grabbing women by the pussy. But somehow it was.

We all have at least one person (probably a lot more) in our lives who have done bad things and get great results. It can be someone who cheated on you and now has an amazing relationship. Or a customer who screams at you at work over something that isn't your fault and is rewarded with a gift card by corporate (ass kissing corporate). Or someone who eliminates your position only to turn around and give it to their friend while selling their company for a ton of money. You know, everyday stuff.

What about when we start thinking about good people? If bad things happen to someone, does that mean they aren't a good person? Like, my position was eliminated - does that mean I'm a bad person? If good things happen to good people, shouldn't that not have happened to me? There are good people all over the world with bad things happening to them every single day from murder all the way down to crying at their office every day because their bosses are self-centered sexists.

Also, there are a lot of things that could be considered "good" to one person and "bad" to someone else. Example: children. I have friends who have kids. When they found out they were pregnant, that was a good thing for them. If I ended up pregnant, that would be a bad thing for me. So in that specific situation, they were good people. But would that make me bad people because it wasn't a good thing happening to me? Or does other people's interpretations of the event factor in?

Then there is the whole issue of good v bad people. Are we talking about a person in a specific instance or is it the sum of a person's whole life? Sir Francis Drake is a hero or a villain depending on which side you talk to (and yes, I did think of that because of Muppet Treasure Island because it is a fantastic movie we should all be watching right now).

My conclusion on "good things happen to good people" is that it's a stupid phrase we use when we are trying to make ourselves feel better about situations over which we have no control. Yay?