It’s Saturday and I Am More Important Than You

It is official – Saturdays in Baltimore County, MD are not fun at all. Won’t bother you with details, but let us suffice to say that the sunny weather did not match my disposition after spending several hours cruising the main county autobahn that is York Rd. Had some serious ideas pop into my head while I was getting cut off in traffic, ignored at the sushi counter, not greeted with a smile, and strong armed out of a parking spot, but the biggest idea that I couldn’t shake was the thought that people think that they are very important. More important than others, especially the guy waiting at that stop sign, or the dude trying to order some yellow fin tuna, or the customer at the dry cleaners, and definitely the guy with his turn signal on indicating his intention to pull into the parking spot at the post office.
Made me think – this has to be cultural. We, Baltimore Countians suffer from a ridiculous case of uber-narcissism and Saturday’s are when this illness plagues us the worst! It’s our time and it’s our errands so everyone get out of MY way. I’m sick of it. People seriously need a reality check – your selfish actions have a direct impact on people everywhere you go. It’s like a narcissistic tornado follows you ripping to shreds anyone and anything within a 15 foot radius. Not being one for self loving natural disasters I think people should examine their attitudes, their behavior, and their actions when they step out of the house on Saturday mornings to enter into the real world. We need to be people who care about others, to think about others, and to do things for others.

Some easy examples:

open/hold open the door for someone
say “good day”, “hello”, “how are you” …. to someone
smile
if your listening to good music, turn it up, roll down the windows, and let other people hear the dank tunes
shake a hand

you can be creative, and it can be easy and free flowing after you start changing your perspective from you to others.

The one good thing about seeing the dark underside of people on a sunny Saturday is that the bright life giving side of others shines extra bright! So serious kudos to you the Penn State students who traveled down to stand on York Rd. and collect change for cancer research and took the time to talk to me at the red light, and thank you to the grieving parents who decided to come to a lacrosse game today your courage and strength lifted me to where I need to be!