Post-Event Attitudes
A couple days ago, my Mamaji (uncle) and I rented a 2000 PSI pressure washer from Home Depot to clean his driveway and backyard pavement. His neighbor (”Simon”) was going to chip in as well so he could clean his yard, too.
After we finished the driveway, we let Simon have it for a while. I went out for a bit and told my uncle I’d be back later to help finish up. A couple hours later, I got a call from my Mamiji (aunt) telling me there was no need to come back.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because someone stole the pressure washer,” was her reply. Simon had gone inside for a moment, and when he returned, the hose had been cut, and the pressure washer was gone.
I was shocked. For the next couple hours, I thought a lot about how our expectations of people can be so magnificently out of whack.
I wouldn’t have dreamed in a thousand years that someone would be scoping out Simon’s yard for the perfect moment to steal the pressure washer. And those things aren’t light. You need two people to lift it onto a truck bed to haul it away. Or you can wheel it away, but good luck doing that quickly.
I never lock my house’s front door; I leave my windows open; I’ll even leave my car running if I’m parked in the driveway and will be quick. This incident made me think a lot about how our attitudes are so different pre-event versus post-event.
Pre-event, I’m confident in my fellow human that my car will still be on my driveway when I come back out of my house.
Post-event, I’m angered at myself for my initial confidence. I’ll likely experience an increase of distrust.
But what’s the alternative? Can I merely choose to have my post-event attitude all the time? If I’m cautious in the beginning, I’ll never leave my car running or my doors unlocked or my windows open… So I’ll maintain ownership of my belongings, but what have I sacrificed?
1 comment April 28th, 2006
