"You know what I've realized?" she started. "It's amazing how people cooperate."
I immediately attempted to cite examples to the contrary, but was unable to articulate any single one due to the multitudes that came to mind. What was she SAYING? People don't COOPERATE! What an absurd suggestion! Doesn't she ever read the news? Bloody imbeciles are running amok every which way! Just think, for example, about the slathering of abhorrent miscreants who, by some miracle, possess drivers licenses and congregate on America's roadways daily. That, to me, seems like the very antithesis to anything even remotely resembling the concept of "cooperation".
But I digress...
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She said this idea occurred to her while sitting on a plane, watching some people politely interacting and others keeping to themselves entirely.
"I mean there are tons of opportunities to misbehave but most people don't!"
[Please pause a moment to soak in the irony of the picture below in which Vic herself is clearly misbehaving.]
When I really think about it (and I mean really, really) I guess I agree with her. Even despite the worldwide idiocy epidemic, it seems that somehow society seems to function at a pretty consistent state of normality thanks to common courtesy. After all, isn't it really only the rarity in which stupidity reigns supreme that even makes it noteworthy? I'd like to think that ridiculous behaviour stands out because it's not the norm, even though I am often tempted to think otherwise. I recently stumbled upon a quote that sums up my point quite nicely:
“I tell people that if it’s in the news, don’t worry about it. The very definition of ‘news’ is ‘something that hardly ever happens.’ It’s when something isn’t in the news, when it’s so common that it’s no longer news — car crashes, domestic violence — that you should start worrying.” ~Bruce Schneier
THIS GIVES ME HOPE.
Fortunately for me, that decision is in my hands.
After all, "as stupid and vicious as men are, this is a lovely day." -- Kurt Vonnegut
2 comments:
Awesome. Carsten you're so funny!
It is pretty crazy how stupid people can be, but also pretty remarkable how we all adhere to rules and standards of society. We even judge people who don't.
It's like the lines in the cafe for pizzeria. Who ever said you must line up and wait your turn to grab a piece? No one, that's who. Why doesn't everyone just walk up and grab the piece they want? People just naturally form a line because they are used to those rules.
There are like 3 different trays of pizza to grab off of, yet people still wait in line, even if the pizza they want is pepperoni and the person they are waiting behind is grabbing mystery pizza of the day. People like to follow order generally.
Then there's people like me, who see the long line and see that the next person is not grabbing the pepperoni, so I just walk right up there and take some. Sometimes rules can be dumb, and those are the one's I don't follow.
Some observations:
Interesting that you refer to me as Vic. It does make for an easier read. Second, that's a very convenient picture of me which doesn't really prove your point if a person where to know that we came up from behind the sign.
Thirdly, I never would have known that you had these thoughts just by our phone conversation. Verrrrrry interesting.
Post a Comment