“Not again!” I moaned to myself as I
walked towards the parking lot. For the umpteenth time, my scooter was stuck
because someone had parked his/her bike so close to mine that I’d be able to
remove my scooter only with great difficulty. I reserved my anger and use of
expletives for until I had reached closer and examined the reason for parking
in such a manner. As it turned out, the biker had had ample space to park
his/her scooter without blocking my vehicle. Now it was justified and only
reasonable that I let loose a deluge of choicest phrases reserved for such
occasions.
Did s/he not know how to park? Who
issued her/his license? Did s/he lack in common sense? Was s/he in a rush? It
takes the same amount of time to park correctly! The simple answer to all of
this is that the rider definitely lacked in consideration. S/he had put her/his
needs before basic consideration.
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Don’t we often encounter people who
will rush into an elevator as soon as its doors open, without waiting for the
occupants to vacate the elevator? Or when you are stuck in traffic, there will
always be someone behind you who will honk incessantly. The question you want
to ask such people at that moment is, ‘How far do you think you will reach?’
These people can clearly see the jam ahead and they are well aware of the fact
that their vehicle cannot fly. It seems to be a tendency to ‘put my needs
before everyone else’s’.
While these come across as small acts
and not worthy of much attention, they in fact define us as human beings. This
attitude of ‘my needs come first’ is all-pervading. Its shadows cast themselves
even in our personal life with our loved ones or at our work place with our
colleagues, basically in every interaction we have with people around us.
At the end of the day, while we may be
oblivious to how we may have either hurt or caused inconvenience to others,
these acts end up earning the ire of the people around us. We are either
criticised behind our backs (sometimes on our face) or lose respect in the eyes
of the people dealing with us on a day-to-day basis.
Sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it? Not
really. At my first job, I had once applied for a half day leave. Due to some
work, I was still at my desk at 1:15 pm. My boss happened to see me and
immediately asked me to drop whatever I was doing and just get on with my half
day. I was so touched by his consideration; thereafter, I never complained if I
had to work late hours then on. It was through his actions that he had proved
that if I ever needed to leave early or could not sit back after work hours, he
would understand.
A small turn of consideration does go a
long way in earning others’ goodwill and respect, especially if these are
people you deal with frequently.
As for those two-wheeler riders who
continue to block my scooter, well, I don’t know them and they don’t know me. I
shall just look at the heavens and pray that God sends them the gift of
consideration.
