It's a wonder that we don't kill about twenty percent of the world population every year with motorized vehicles. Too many people are completely oblivious to the world around them at all times. Today I encountered four instances within an hour and a half and it doesn't leave me to hopeful for the survival of humanity.
As I was walking home from work a car accelerated away from a red light and nearly hit me while I crossed the street. Yes, the car was stopped at a light, and accelerated into the intersection. Now to their credit, they realized that they were not supposed to be moving and stopped before they got to the crosswalk but if they had been paying attention, no quick response would have been required.
Less than five minutes later, as I walked past a grocery store, another driver nearly hit me. There is an entrance/exit to the parking lot that crosses the sidewalk and the driver was only watching the vehicle traffic as he rolled up to the sidewalk. He never saw me or the other two pedestrians he nearly hit.
The other two incidents happened inside a grocery store as I bought my food for the week. There was no threat to my personal safety but the complete oblivion to the world around them shows these people are in the category to be watched.
I was in the juice/dairy isle, going to pick up milk. There was a woman using a cart stopped in the isle while another woman with a cart was more concerned if her daughter wanted pineapple juice than anyone around her. She stopped her cart right next to the first woman's cart to completely block the entire lane. There was no way for me or one other shopper to get through. She could have easily stopped her cart to allow people to quickly pass as the isle was not crowded but she was so self absorbed that she had no clue her actions were affecting others.
Then, I was in the checkout line. I had done my usual scan to see which line should move quickly. There was a line where a woman was paying, behind her was a woman with a couple of kids but her purchases didn't even fill half the belt. Jackpot! This will be a breeze. The children were very well behaved. Double Jackpot! The woman had no idea what was going on around her. I knew it had to be too good to be true. She had the kids in front of he cart but was so far back in the lane that I couldn't start putting my groceries on the belt until half her items had been rung through. Keep in mind, all her items took up less than half the belt. She was also too cheap to buy bags. It would have taken 3 plastic bags for a total of 15 cents or she could have bought a couple of the reusable bags, or she could have brought bags from home but she had her two kids put all the food back into the cart. The kids did really well until there was about 4 items to go then they stalled out a bit. They wanted their mom to put the last item, a cucumber into the cart. For two kids no older than about eight, I thought this was pretty good but instead of just picking up the cucumber she tried to talk her kids through it. In the meantime, the cashier was wisely waiting for all her items to be gathered up so my stuff and her stuff didn't get mixed up. This delayed me a bit longer but I got my stuff and carried on.
In aviation they call it situational awareness. There are a few definitions floating about but they all boil down to being aware of the current state of the world around you and making appropriate decisions with that information. Today, within an hour and a half I encountered four people in routine tasks that were oblivious enough of the world around them to impact my day. Albeit, today was an extreme example but it makes the point. We need to find a way to make people more aware of the world around them.
However, not all hope is lost. While grocery shopping I also noticed a woman stop at the fresh meat service counter, to look at some meat, she immediately noticed that between her and another shopper, the isle was effectively blocked. She immediately moved her cart sideways to make room for others. We need more people to be aware and thoughtful, just like that.
Being aware and courteous is a habit that needs to be formed. It also improves your safety and the safety of the people around you. It's important to know how your decisions and actions will impact the people around you. You can make their lives safer and more pleasant or you can ruin their day. I hope everyone chooses the former.
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