Two kinds of people
So, there I was today, driving North on I-35 South of Dallas near Lancaster. It was about 10:30, so the rush hour traffic had diminished, and I was cruising along, listening to the Beastie Boys, enjoying the sunny day and thinking about my class this afternoon. Suddenly, and for no initial apparent reason, traffic came to a jarring halt - at least in the right lane in which I was driving. Cars were still moving along in the left lane (the highway at this point only had 2 lanes due to construction), and I spied a sign ahead that said "Left lane closed ahead - 2 miles." Ah... that explains everything. So, I stayed in the slow moving right lane, positioning myself behind the immense phalanx of vehicles who were doing what good citizens should - they were waiting their turn. But then I noticed that the right lane became even more congested and slow-moving because cars in the left lane were whizzing by and going all the way up to the point where the lane is cut off - only to worm their way into the right lane at the last possible moment. The consequence of this action was that the cars at the front of the right lane had to keep stopping in order to let these other cars merge in - and this was causing the slow down as far back as where I was - about 2 miles away. Soon, even people behind me in the right lane began to be impatient and pulled out in the left lane to cut in front of all of us and get to the front of the line. Some of the people in bigger vehicles - pickup trucks and SUVs - that were waiting in the right lane began to get frustrated and move their cars over about half a lane so that they blocked cars from cutting past them in the line.
I was amazed at the entire scene, watching it develop and play out before my eyes, and I thought that this was a perfect metaphor for people. There are 2 kinds of people, to make a crude distinction - those who are patient and wait their turn, and those who believe it fitting and just to take advantage and get ahead - even if that means running around or over others. I saw it like this - the psychology of this phenomenon seemed to me to be that of the difference between people who think that they are only a cog in the greater machine of society, and in order for society to function we must share and work together - and those who see life as a ladder to be climbed, with the ultimate goal attaining the uppermost rung, knowing full-well that in order to reach the summit one must necessarily climb over the backs of others. It says a lot about us as a society - about our manners, priorities and values. Why do I deserve to go "first" or ahead of others? Is it because I got there first? If not, is it because I was aggressive enough to realize that that open left lane is just sitting there, and those who are waiting patiently in the right lane are suckers and worse - losers? Why should I sacrifice my own time so that others can go before me? If something is there for the taking, isn't it right to grab it, no matter the means? Isn't this also a microcosm of America's hyper-capitalistic ethos? If doctoring the books is what it takes to secure myself a multi-million dollar profit, why should I resist? If taking steroid allows me to hit 70 home runs and secure a huge contract to take care of my family for life, why not?
I thought about this a lot, and then I stopped thinking about it because it made me depressed. I'd like to live in a world where all people would patiently wait their turns in the right lane - but that's not the place in which I live, and that's sad to me. But, again, maybe that's just me... what about you? J$