Hello, my name is __________

“Hello, my name is Karen.  Please allow me to introduce myself.  I am one of the other 6 Billion people inhabiting the planet with you”.  I have actually said this line to a stranger because they were acting as if they were the only person in the world.  Yes I am ashamed to say I am THAT sarcastic and confrontational.  But in my defense, this particular incident was incredibly irritating and I was no doubt having a bad day.  I have become increasingly aware of how people live inside their own little worlds without any regard to the fact that there are other people walking the earth with them.  There are hundreds of examples of this observed throughout any given day.  I hope I don’t offend anyone with these examples, but if the shoe fits……..

There is the dude that sits in the drive thru ATM balancing his checkbook after receiving his cash, while there are four cars behind him in line waiting.  If this is you, please don’t be alarmed when I knock on your window to “introduce myself”.  Then there is the lady that loudly continues her cell phone conversation while going through the checkout at Target.  My favorite response to this, is to stand uncomfortably close to her and start talking REALLY loud to the person I’m with.   Te he he.  Oh yes, and you mom’s that can walk around the grocery store ignoring your screaming child, please know that the rest of us in the store don’t have that de-sensitized hearing, and this is very troubling to us.  If you and your screaming child are moseying down aisle 2 and I can hear you from aisle 18, then you are definitely getting the stink eye from me if not worse.  I don’t mean to be ugly to my fellow mommies, but HELLO!!!!  Take your screaming kid to the bathroom.  DUH!  Does this really have to be said?  Hey don’t get upset with me for stating the obvious, I’m a mom, I can say these things.  Let’s not ignore the plethora of ways people drive in their own world.  For example, traffic lights and speed limits are not merely suggestion’s, they are laws that apply to everyone, even those of you who mistakenly think that your time is more important than anyone else’s.  If you are one of those people that are above waiting in a long line of construction traffic and feel like you are entitled to pass everyone and cut in front of the line at the last possible moment, I know who you are and I know where you live and you might just get a rather unpleasant “introduction” one of these days.  You drivers of vehicles so fragile that you must take up three parking spaces at the front of the drugstore so no one will accidentally breath on your precious baby, well my sick child that needs medicine from that store trumps your pile of shining metal any day, so you can park in one space like everyone else.  If you walk by three trash cans and then throw your candy wrapper on the ground, not only are you confirming that you are a slob, but you have just shown that you are not quite as smart as the monkeys in the zoo.  Oh yes, I keep forgetting, when you live in a world with population one, you don’t really have to be concerned about anyone else’s needs.

 It may come across in the written word as if I am angry or bitter, however, that is truly not the case.  Although I have found myself to be somewhat irked by these behaviors, the truth is, anger is not the driving force here.  I feel it is my civic duty to point out to "the inconsiderate" just how their actions affect others and how their little world could be a better place with a bit of a reality check.  You see, I believe that we are all put on the planet together for a reason.  That reason is not to walk around with blinders on pretending to be the only one here.  I find it so fascinating and ironic that most people spend half of their time worrying about what others think and the other half of their time completely ignoring other people altogether.  That just doesn’t make sense. 

My husband does the most awesome thing when it comes to acknowledging the needs of others.  Whenever he is somewhere like the checkout line at Wal-Mart, or the drive-thru at Wendy’s, he ALWAYS glances at the worker’s name tag and then proceeds to greet them and call them by name, usually asking them how their day is going.  They are often surprised that someone has taken the time to notice their name and then spoke kindly to them.  I’ve always thought this was such a cool thing.  He will say that he does it to brighten someone’s day, but I secretly think he does it so that those hard working folks know that HE knows they exist.  He’s not perfect but he is almost always aware and considerate of the people around him.  So much so, that he doesn’t like to make a waitress “wait” on us when she is ready to take our order.  He pushes us to have our order ready when she comes to the table.  He gets a lot of ribbing about that…….”yeah dad, we don’t want to make the waitress wait”, but he honestly wants to do what he can to make someone else’s life a little easier.  That’s probably why I married him.  Wouldn’t the world be a great place if everyone had a little of that attitude?

ANYWAY, the number of inconsiderate behaviors is as large as the world’s current population which is headed toward 7 billion.  Of course the me that you have come to know, wants to point out and correct all the times that people forget they are among others, with snarky remarks like, “what color is the sky in your world?” or “hey, it’s your world, I’m just living in it”, but the part of me that wants to serve them takes a moment to reflect. 

I have concluded over time that it is much easier to live a life that is seemingly secluded from the rest of humanity.  The problem with that is when you co-exist within it; there is an inevitable clash of interests.  It takes effort, patience, and a bit of enlightenment to regularly consider the needs of others.  The problem with walking around with blinders on is that the world is passing by in your peripheral vision.  Yes we might do something considerate for someone and risk them not being grateful; yes we may follow the speed limit and watch as the speeder goes by without getting pulled over; yes if we call the store clerk by name and inquire about their well being, there is a chance that they might talk too long or misinterpret our actions as creepy.  But we will have helped someone out, done the right thing, and may have given someone a lift.  How great is that?

It is now time to go out into the world with eyes wide open.  Speak to the person that is serving you,  pay attention to where you park, keep your children in check (at least in public), and for Pete’s sake, pull out of the ATM drive-thru line before you start balancing your checkbook.  You never know, this new way of life might bring you all sorts of peace and contentment.  The point is there are more people in this wonderful world besides just you so enjoy them and please be considerate of them.  If that is just not possible for you, then hopefully you will be “introduced” to everyone else that reads this post.