Forgiving Driving Mistakes March 2, 2010
Posted by feelisofree in Life in General, People as Individuals.Tags: cars, cut off, driving, forgiveness, guilty, innocent, mistakes, pass, slam on brakes
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I was taking a little time of reflection, thinking about previous driving situations that I either have been in or witnessed and there is one thing that disturbs me. Very often, when it comes to simple mistakes, people become far too unforgiving.
By all means, driving can be a dangerous thing, and it is the responsbility of everyone who gets behind the wheel to make sure that the utmost sense of safety is observed because lives actually hang in the balance when people are behind the wheel. Yet, it is also important for us to realize that we are all humans and sometimes EVERYONE will make a mistake.
So what kind of mistakes should be forgiven. Well, eventually all mistakes should be forgiveable, but those that should quickly be forgiven are those where no harm was done. I’ve seen where someone accidentally misjudged the speed and distance of an approaching car and pulled out, causing the approaching driver to have to hit the brakes harder that he/she would’ve liked, and the approaching driver would react with such HATRED that you’d think they had been attacked! That is too much… holding down the horn for an extended period of time, cursing, and so forth, long after the incident (which was actually avoided) has passed.
I’ve seen another recent situation where a driver, for some reason, kept going when the bus was stopped to pick up kids. The kids were getting on the bus on the other side of the road, so there was no immediate danger, but of course they should’ve stopped for safety purposes. The driver’s face clearly showed that they knew they had made a mistake and were regretful, but I can understand clearly why they would not have stopped to apologize… because the bus driver and parents at the stop were so vicious looking and furious that it looked like they’d try all that they could to destroy the person!
In such situations, were mistakes made? Yes! But the question is, where does the forgiveness come in? How long must a person suffer (especially when they are willing to acknowledge their mistake and express true remorse) in order to satisfy people? I’m not saying that people should not be held accountable, especially if someone was hurt or there was some damage caused, but we also have to be willing to forgive! If there was no damage or injury, rather than be so bitter, angry, and hatefully hostile, why not forgive, just as you’d want to be forgiven if you made the same mistake, and please, don’t be so arrogant to say you’d never make the same mistake. Even if you don’t make the same mistake, you too have screwed up at some point in your life regarding something, so we all need to be a lot more forgiving when it comes to simple, “no harm, no foul” mistakes and give others the same consideration that we’d like for ourselves and that they deserve, especially when they are truly sorry for the mistake they made.
C’mon, It’s a Lego February 4, 2010
Posted by feelisofree in News.Tags: 4th grade, boy, cap gun, extreme, lego, NY, pricipal, Staten Island, suspend, suspension, swat, too much, toy gun
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So I see this news article (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35234742) about a little boy, a 4th grader, who was threatened with suspension over a little 2″ long, plastic, lego gun toy that he brougth to school. The little boy’s father is retired police, and so of course he looks up to him, and he brought the toy to school with him. Keep in mind that this is a young boy that apparently enjoys school (which is rare enough as it is), and who has had no real disciplinary issues.
Well, the principle threatens this child with suspension due to the strong rule of no imitation guns. Let’s think for a minute though… is a 2″ lego size toy an imitation? No way! An imitation gun is one that looks like a real one and that could be used in a deceitful, threatening manner. This is NOT an imitation, it is a TOY! Don’t get me wrong, I do understand the need to regulate and enforce rules, but this is a little too much. Would someone actually mistake this type of a toy for a real gun, or anything other than a toy???
The parents are furious, and it is understandable why. Sometimes, we can take things a little far, and this is one of those cases. Even the recent article about a SWAT team being called over a cap gun isn’t as bad, for maybe somehow the sound appeared realistic (I say that sarcastically). Sometimes it’s just best to relax a little. Stay strong for true issues, but for minor things like this, they could’ve and should’ve just retained it and said don’t play with toys in school. Just my opinion. 
Did She Say, “Excuse You?” January 27, 2010
Posted by feelisofree in People as Individuals.Tags: courtesy, kind, nice, old, right, rude, standards, traditional, values, wrong
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First things first, I used the term “she” in the title of this post because in all my experience with this experience, it has always been women that have done this. I guess men are more likely to just say it bluntly, who knows…
So here I am in the grocery store last night, and I’m coming to the end of an isle, while an elderly (probably in the 50′s – Okay, I know that’s not that old these days, but you get the picture. That should still be somebody’s sweet grandmother) lady is going across in the main isle. I stop my cart so that I wouldn’t jump out in front of her crashing into her and smile at her to say hello, like a gentleman, and I’m about 98% sure that she mouthed her lips to say “excuse you.” As she continued past, I had to blink a couple of times in disbelief that this old lady, who’s dressed like she just came from church sitting in the first couple of rows with her hat on raising her hands and saying “alright pastor” to every high point the preacher made, has just been that rude. The crazy thing though, is that this is not that “foreign” to me because I’ve been seeing sort of a trend with that sort of attitude in this region.
Even if though, not “grandma!” For a moment I contemplated that I should purposefully cross her path again in the same manner so that I could loudly say “Did you say just say, ‘excuse you’” and then if she said, “yes,” then I could respond with something like, “oh, I would’ve thought better from a mature lady like yourself, but I guess…” Well, I won’t go into the endings to that statement, but instead I’ll be like Canton Jones, “I’ma Stay Saved!” I should’ve just confronted the curiosity at the moment by simply asking then, “what did you say?” and going from there.
If that is the case though, and that is really what she said, what the heck?!?! What happened to mutual courtesy in this world, especially and at least from the “elders” who are supposed to set the example. Nobody was in the wrong. It’s about as bad as when you are driving and almost have an accident, one of those situations where everyone has to stop hard on their brakes (nobody’s fault specifically, just a combination of everyone) and then one nutcase slams his/her hand on the horn raising hands and giving everyone else an evil look. Or even if it was your fault, but thankfully an accident was avoided. Why do people then drive by mean-mugging instead of being thankful nothing happened and forgiving because it wasn’t intentional?
I think it boils down to this: People are essentially selfish, and egocentric. Traditional values involved raising children and actually teaching them things like common courtesy, but the modern social atmosphere is one of entitlement. We are definitely in the “it’s all about me” time period of socieity, and unfortunately it carries over to every day activity such as in the above-mentioned scenarios. Likewise, you may walk away saying, “didn’t anyone ever teach them any better?” but if so you have to ask yourself the same question about why you didn’t correct them.
If you do have the respect, and an appreciation for courtesy, by all means don’t sink to others’ ignorant, foolish, selfish, sorry, jacked up, punkish ways, but there is nothing wrong with standing up for that standard for yourself. Simply have enough respect for yourself not to just roll over for disrespect from others. Maybe they were never taught, but if not, today is lesson number one!
