Stupidity is in the eye of the beholder

Truth be told, people don’t do stupid things.  Or, at least to them, at the time, they don’t seem stupid.  Now, people truly do some unimaginably incredibly stupid things, but to them, at that time, it made sense.  The difference between our knowledge that what they just did was idiotic and their belief that what they just did makes sense is a matter of perspective.  Everybody has their own opinions.  Everybody has had different experiences.  These differences affect the way they see things.  That unique view, along with what is going on in their mind (emotions, thoughts, what they’re seeing, etc.) at that point in time, affects the way they think.  Showering with a hair dryer is idiotic.  But most people don’t plan to electrocute themselves.  For whatever reason, they just thought they can save time by washing their hair and drying it at the same time.

“No, officer, I didn’t mean to run that red light.  I was just in a hurry and I was sure it would stay yellow long enough for me to drive two more blocks.  That’s why I accelerated to 20 mph over the speed limit.  Yes, I know all the cars in the other lanes had already stopped, but they probably aren’t running late . . . “

“I know I have two full shopping carts full of stuff, but there wasn’t anyone else in the express lane . . .”

“Those tigers have been in the zoo for years.  And the keepers go in those cages daily.  Surely they’re tame enough by now.  I just want to get a good picture . . .”

“I saw them do this in a movie . . . “

The problem is, even though you know (based on rule #1) that most people ARE idiots, so that you can plan on them doing stupid things.  Since everybody has their own unique way of seeing things, you can’t plan for HOW people are going to be stupid.  This brings us to the second rule:

Life Rule #2: When it comes to people, like snow, remember that no two flakes are alike.

Idiots are very ingenious in coming up with ways to do things stupidly.   You can’t make something idiot-proof, because idiots are so smart.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines idiot-proof as “extremely easy to operate or maintain.”  Notice that definition doesn’t mean some idiot won’t find a way to break it, mess it up, mis-interpret the directions, confuse it with something else, or otherwise render all your efforts futile.  Therefore, it is imperitative that we stay aware of what’s going on around us at all times.  because you never know when that idiot over there will do something so incredibly stupid that it defies all reason or logic.

Tags: express lane, idiots, life rules, perspective