A TRIVIAL incident gave me some more “food” for thought. While riding in the car, I recently saw some stuff fly out of the automobile in front of mine and drop on the pavement. I took the time to look and find out what it was. It was an empty bag of potato chips, a can of soda and a couple of tissues. The driver had carelessly flung such rubbish out of his car window, without giving it a thought. He never worried about dirtying the clean highway, he never cared that such objects might have been dangerous for the car following his. The important point here is the word “cared”. Beside its definition as the practice of looking after those unable to care for themselves, “caring” mainly means to display kindness and concern for others. It means to show “empathy” — the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Do people nowadays display this kind of feeling? Many certainly do, but many others do not. The “new world” that is being created day by day appears inspired to the greatest selfishness and self-centeredness. Selfish is the person who lacks consideration for others and is mainly concerned with his (or her) personal profit or pleasure. Self-centered is the one who only thinks about his (or her) desires, needs or interests. These are therefore the people who, being so engrossed in themselves and in their businesses, totally disregard the feelings, the needs and even the rights of their fellow human beings. On a larger scale, just look at how countries, political figures, establishment leaders, “rich and famous” individuals behave. They resemble sharks always ready to jump on their alleged adversaries. The “others” are seen either as enemies to be annihilated or, in different scenarios, as individuals to be totally ignored. I once again imagine the world as a stage where a play is being carried out, but where some of the characters are like ghostly figures, with no actual consistence. The protagonists are very few, and they dominate the scene. They make decisions, they give orders, they have the control over … everything. The ghostly characters move around according to the what they are told, to what they are shown, to what they are made believe.
In such a world, it’s easy to understand why a great amount of people behave selfishly and carelessly. Throwing some rubbish out of the car window is not such a big deal, after all — you may be brought to say and believe. I am sorry, but in my opinion it “is” a big deal because, although such act does not cause an actual catastrophe (although it might, in case it “blinds” the driver of the car that follows!), nevertheless it indicates that something is totally lacking: respect for others! To respect means to have consideration for others. And doesn’t “having consideration” mean that you acknowledge the presence of other living beings, that you “see” them and give them the right to exist and to be treated with kindness? Well, in many cases it seems that people do not live according to such principle. They walk on their life path as no one else existed, as the whole world was there just to please them.
When I see a driver throwing rubbish from his car window, I think of his carelessness. When I see a driver cutting a red light, I think of his recklessness and total disregard for the life of others. When I hear someone using rude words, I think of their total unawareness of what a sound human being should be. When I watch all the violence presented and portrayed by the media, I can’t help thinking of the wrong path the people of our time are led on. Can something be done to improve the situation? There may be two things that each of us could do. First, we could live according to our principles, in spite of what others might do or think. Second, we could express our opinions as often as we can, with whoever is around. Even if just a few words of ours are listened to, small changes for the better might hopefully take place in the long run.
E-mail: [email protected]
Blog: recreateyourlifetoday.blogspot.com
