Thursday, May 1, 2008

Common Sense








When my father retired in his latter years, I recall having a conversation with him about common sense. He said that he had thought the common sense was everywhere but since his retirement had instead found it to be as rare as hen's teeth...he was astounded at the total lack of common sense displayed by the general population.





Like the person who asked me a few weeks ago if breaking a board with a punch hurt? Well what do you reckon, if you hit a solid object with your hand of course there is going to be some discomfort Einstein, I mean really, did you expect me to say it didn't??? Sure it doesn't last long but yes you can feel when you have hit it!!!



Or the morons that think the merge lane is in fact a ticket to plant your foot in order to beat the other guy into the lane...oh the fact there is a round about less than 50m ahead of you and you have to jump on the breaks to avoid rear ending the person in front of you, clearly not something to be considered let alone worried about.



Or that person at work that asks that you do something for them which you dutifully do, only to have them return to collect the work looking totally confused. A few questions from you and it becomes painfully obvious they have not even read what they gave you to do first. It would seem kind of obvious that you read it first to make sure it is what you want before giving it to someone else to do??? I mean really what is with people today?



Is it the "its all about me" part of this generation that they have no clue about how their behaviour might impact on other people?



Like the shopping centre carpark yesterday. One shopper wanted to reverse out of a carpark, but the person behind had stopped too close - did they reverse up to assist the person getting out of the park? Nope, nada, bugger them, let them do it the hard way, I ain't moving Jack. So this person undertakes the equivalent of the 52 point turn in reverse to get out of this park. At the same time traffic is building to the equivalent of the Harbour Bridge with one lane closed for repair during peak hour. This person cares not a jot. Afterall "I'm alright Jack, don't really give a toss if anyone else is alright"



I just don't get the headspace between these people's ears. Nine times out of ten, their behaviour ultimately does impact on them but are they just too dumb to get it? It isn't about being the equivalent of a graduate from ladettes to ladies here people, it isn't rocket science! It is afterall in essence a bit of courtesy and consideration of others and most of all common sense. Before you open your mouth, or do something that actually demonstrates your capacity to be a moron, pause and just think it through. Is this the best way I can do this, or will it cause problems for others and can I achieve the same thing without causing a full scale disaster in my small corner or the world?



Perhaps if more people adhered to this simple principle the rest of us would not spend so many of our waking hours resisting the urge to slap people like this sideways everytime they demonstrate to us just how lacking on common sense they are!