True story: While running some errands the other day, I spot a middle-aged couple casually strolling across the four-lane highway. They’re deep in animated conversation, walking against the signal with oncoming traffic swirling around them.
These two continue chatting away as they amble right in front of my car, which forces me to a complete stop as I approach the right-hand turn lane. Eyebrows suspended, I wait maybe half a beat before tapping the horn and gesturing at the green light dangling 20 feet yonder.
The guy flinches as if I’d pulled up and beeped in his bathroom, then shares a couple creative gestures of his own. Next he starts hollering something about the sidewalks being blocked with snow, and where else are they supposed to walk. Okay, can’t argue there. Except that he’s making this perfectly valid point while standing smack in front of my idling two-ton CRV -- which still has the green, mind you -- with honking vehicles hurtling just inches from his waving arms. His companion finally runs back and drags him to the curb.
True story: Three powerful Pacific storms pound California with heavy rain and snow in January, forcing hundreds of evacuations; flooding major interstates; unleashing lightning strikes on two commercial jets; and spawning multiple killer tornadoes.
Despite urgent pleas from authorities, some residents simply refuse to heed evacuation orders. One couple puts their faith in a 2-foot-high wall of sandbags surrounding their home.
“Look at our house,” says the wife. “We’re well-fortified here. If any rain or mud or anything comes down, it’ll be blocked by our barricades and we’re stocked with food and water.” Police deputies ask the couple to sign actual forms stating they’ve been advised of the danger. They also warn them against pleading for rescue later, recounting the post-Katrina chaos of New Orleans.
Despite these painstaking efforts, officials report only about a 40 percent compliance rate by residents throughout the region. “We’re not going through all this because your carpet is going to get wet,” laments one exasperated sheriff. “We’re doing it because your flipping life is at stake, and other lives will be jeopardized trying to save you later.”
True story: Jet-setting White House party crashers the Salahis invoke their Fifth Amendment right repeatedly during a preliminary House hearing; so many times, in fact, that one aggravated committee member finally asks whether the couple is actually in the room. The couple’s lawyer reiterates his clients’ belief that they were entitled to be at the dinner, neglecting to mention the reality TV cameras that have followed them around for months.
Defending our right to our position is a big deal in this country. I guess that’s what being “free” is all about. But does anybody else feel like we increasingly invoke principle at the expense of common sense? Does it even matter anymore what gets compromised, or who becomes inconvenienced – even incapacitated – so long as we get what we want? Do we stop to think about the bigger impact … which, all too often, comes back to haunt us as well? Case in point: today’s headline about growing disenchantment with the ongoing economic stimulus effort, positioned right next to a headline about homeowners continuing to walk away from outsized mortgages.
My great-aunt Florence used to have a saying: “If God didn’t want us to use our brains, he would have stuffed our heads with ricotta cheese.” I’m starting to wonder if maybe he didn’t, and so he did. Buy hey, you know, I guess that's just not my problem.
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