i'm fascinated with how people react to making mistakes. i'm always curious why people do the things they do once they've been caught erring. i personally believe it's a learned behavior -- something we get from our elders and from society.
historically our government has made some pretty terrible decisions. we know this because that's what the history books tell us: trail of tears, segregation, allowing women to vote -- the list goes on. we never hear about when our government does something good. we hear of good intentions that were flawed and failed -- public education, health care, allowing women to vote -- but there's rarely an "atta boy!" doled out to our historical figures. (a lot of historians these days even blame george washington for starting the french & indian war and thus the revolutionary war.)
our parents make mistakes as well as other relatives. our friends. celebrities. et cetera.
mistakes are common, though. everyone makes them. that's not a big deal. the big deal is the reaction and response to being caught. what do we do? i find it interesting that most people -- in their heads -- scurry like rats to hurry up and solve the issue so it's no longer an issue or more so that they won't get caught. sweeping the dirt under the rug, so to speak.
we, in america, love lifting up that rug and giving the problem a quick fix. it's the political figure who only makes a public apology after dropping a racial slur. it doesn't change the fact that he's racist.
of course we're not much better. we accept the apology. and we recognize that it's crap. and we accept that it's ok to use crap apologies and excuses to cover our mistakes.
on a smaller scale, think of the various reactions and excuses your little rat-scurrying brain came up with when your mom caught you with your hand in the cookie jar. did you step down, drop the cookie and acknowledge that you were in the wrong and offer a sincere apology? no. you said some bullshit like "i'm hungry" or "dad said i could" or "i was gonna feed it to my hamster."
house parties, broken windows, spilled beverages. all of these we've had excuses for that were never the true reason.
so rarely are we willing to accept the fact that we are wrong and change what we did for the better. we so often try to divert this or at least cover it up which mostly leads to more problems in the future.
anyway, i always see people at intersections enter the crosswalk as the light is turning red. instead of recognizing this and going back to the curb to wait for the next walk signal they often scurry across the street blocking oncoming traffic. it always makes me wonder why people are so concerned with getting to the other side of the street, why a 45-second wait is unacceptable, why they can't accept that being in the street is wrong and that they should just turn back.
i try to find reasons in our society that influence people to do such things.
anyhow -- the whole "pedestrian at the crosswalk" thing i think that is the most prevalent evidence that we, as americans, are habitually opposed to the idea of admitting to ourselves that we are very frequently wrong. we spend a lot of time pointing out the errors of other people -- attitude, work ethic, women voting -- and not enough time accepting our own. i think it's ok to be wrong. everybody is and that's a fact of life. we just need to spend a little more time considering the effect of our half-hearted attempts at problem solving and apologizing.
of course i could be wrong.
love your brothers and sisters
historically our government has made some pretty terrible decisions. we know this because that's what the history books tell us: trail of tears, segregation, allowing women to vote -- the list goes on. we never hear about when our government does something good. we hear of good intentions that were flawed and failed -- public education, health care, allowing women to vote -- but there's rarely an "atta boy!" doled out to our historical figures. (a lot of historians these days even blame george washington for starting the french & indian war and thus the revolutionary war.)
our parents make mistakes as well as other relatives. our friends. celebrities. et cetera.
mistakes are common, though. everyone makes them. that's not a big deal. the big deal is the reaction and response to being caught. what do we do? i find it interesting that most people -- in their heads -- scurry like rats to hurry up and solve the issue so it's no longer an issue or more so that they won't get caught. sweeping the dirt under the rug, so to speak.
we, in america, love lifting up that rug and giving the problem a quick fix. it's the political figure who only makes a public apology after dropping a racial slur. it doesn't change the fact that he's racist.
of course we're not much better. we accept the apology. and we recognize that it's crap. and we accept that it's ok to use crap apologies and excuses to cover our mistakes.
on a smaller scale, think of the various reactions and excuses your little rat-scurrying brain came up with when your mom caught you with your hand in the cookie jar. did you step down, drop the cookie and acknowledge that you were in the wrong and offer a sincere apology? no. you said some bullshit like "i'm hungry" or "dad said i could" or "i was gonna feed it to my hamster."
house parties, broken windows, spilled beverages. all of these we've had excuses for that were never the true reason.
so rarely are we willing to accept the fact that we are wrong and change what we did for the better. we so often try to divert this or at least cover it up which mostly leads to more problems in the future.
anyway, i always see people at intersections enter the crosswalk as the light is turning red. instead of recognizing this and going back to the curb to wait for the next walk signal they often scurry across the street blocking oncoming traffic. it always makes me wonder why people are so concerned with getting to the other side of the street, why a 45-second wait is unacceptable, why they can't accept that being in the street is wrong and that they should just turn back.
i try to find reasons in our society that influence people to do such things.
anyhow -- the whole "pedestrian at the crosswalk" thing i think that is the most prevalent evidence that we, as americans, are habitually opposed to the idea of admitting to ourselves that we are very frequently wrong. we spend a lot of time pointing out the errors of other people -- attitude, work ethic, women voting -- and not enough time accepting our own. i think it's ok to be wrong. everybody is and that's a fact of life. we just need to spend a little more time considering the effect of our half-hearted attempts at problem solving and apologizing.
of course i could be wrong.
love your brothers and sisters
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
greed is certainly a factor in all of this. i don't think it's that nobody notices the greed. it's that we're keeping up with the jones'.
As for people not taking responsibility, I think one hypothesis is our leaders (not just government). America has a tendancy to worship the celebrity (see celeb-worship group). Celebrities generally have money and influence, and thus are usually able to get away with things more often. People see this on a daily basis, and think that they can get away with things too. Same goes with our current government leadership, which won't take responsibility for any mistakes, really. But that is just one possible hypothesis.