When I Rule the World
Wednesday, 28. January 2009, 21:22:58
My husband often tells me that the world will be a much better place when I'm in charge. He says it sarcastically, but I think he's right. There aren't really many things I would change. For example...
If people would just take a few micro-seconds of their time to consider how they would feel if someone else was doing what they are doing, and then act accordingly, the world would be a more pleasant place. Last week I was in the store with my husband. We went to buy a new DVD player for the bedroom. Where else would you go to buy a DVD player than, you guessed it, WalMart.
The store was even more crowded than usual. The aisles were clogged with people and shopping carts. When we finally got to the DVD player aisle, my husband went in at one end but there were too many people around me me to get through with the cart so I went to the other end of the aisle and discovered that there was a man standing there looking at DVDs. His stance kept anyone from getting close to any of the players on about two thirds of the aisle. His cart was behind and to the left of him in the middle of the aisle blocking my way and my husband was beyond that.
I left my cart with my son and tried to get close enough to look at what my husband was trying to show me. I didn't touch the man or his cart. As I'm trying to lean close enough to see the features listed on the box, the man says, "Excuse me." The tone of his voice clearly told me that he didn't mean it, that the last thing in the world he was really doing was begging my pardon. I looked at him and realized instantly that anything I said to him, no matter how pleasant, would be taken the wrong way.
A few seconds later he grabbed a box, threw it in his cart and stalked off.
Was that necessary? Not really. Now when I rule the world, a person like that would realize that he was inconveniencing everybody including himself and simply move aside a little bit so I could go by. I would be able to look, he would be able to look. Easy, right?
Another example:
There's always that one person who insists on coming up (or down) the left side of the stairs. If everyone kept to the right, the people going down and the people going up would have equal access to the steps and neither group would inconvenience the other. Easy, right?
When I rule the world, people will do the right thing. They'll be polite to each other. It seems as though the majority of the people I run into on a daily basis have forgotten the simple courtesies that make the world work smoothly. If I say, "Excuse me," do you know what I mean? Most people don't seem to understand that when I say, "Excuse me," what I really mean is, "Please get out of my way. I want to go through."
See, simple rules. Be polite, stay to the right, and get out of my way. Yep, things will be much better when I rule the world.
If people would just take a few micro-seconds of their time to consider how they would feel if someone else was doing what they are doing, and then act accordingly, the world would be a more pleasant place. Last week I was in the store with my husband. We went to buy a new DVD player for the bedroom. Where else would you go to buy a DVD player than, you guessed it, WalMart.
The store was even more crowded than usual. The aisles were clogged with people and shopping carts. When we finally got to the DVD player aisle, my husband went in at one end but there were too many people around me me to get through with the cart so I went to the other end of the aisle and discovered that there was a man standing there looking at DVDs. His stance kept anyone from getting close to any of the players on about two thirds of the aisle. His cart was behind and to the left of him in the middle of the aisle blocking my way and my husband was beyond that.
I left my cart with my son and tried to get close enough to look at what my husband was trying to show me. I didn't touch the man or his cart. As I'm trying to lean close enough to see the features listed on the box, the man says, "Excuse me." The tone of his voice clearly told me that he didn't mean it, that the last thing in the world he was really doing was begging my pardon. I looked at him and realized instantly that anything I said to him, no matter how pleasant, would be taken the wrong way.
A few seconds later he grabbed a box, threw it in his cart and stalked off.
Was that necessary? Not really. Now when I rule the world, a person like that would realize that he was inconveniencing everybody including himself and simply move aside a little bit so I could go by. I would be able to look, he would be able to look. Easy, right?
Another example:
There's always that one person who insists on coming up (or down) the left side of the stairs. If everyone kept to the right, the people going down and the people going up would have equal access to the steps and neither group would inconvenience the other. Easy, right?
When I rule the world, people will do the right thing. They'll be polite to each other. It seems as though the majority of the people I run into on a daily basis have forgotten the simple courtesies that make the world work smoothly. If I say, "Excuse me," do you know what I mean? Most people don't seem to understand that when I say, "Excuse me," what I really mean is, "Please get out of my way. I want to go through."
See, simple rules. Be polite, stay to the right, and get out of my way. Yep, things will be much better when I rule the world.
WIDGETIZE