If there's one word to sum up the human race, it's "consistent." That is the only explanation I can muster for the people who never cease to baffle me day after day.
Imagine the scene: You are waiting at a red light in a blue Ford Taurus. You are fourth in a long line of cars waiting to get through the intersection. The car directly in front of you is a white Nissan Maxima. The car directly in front of it is a blue vehicle whose make and model you cannot remember; however, it is not at all important to the story.
Mr./Ms. Blue Car has pulled slightly closer to the curb so as to drop a passenger off on the sidewalk. There is space in front of him/her for one of the following: half a standard-sized sedan, a European car, or a Fisher-Price wagon.
As the light turns green and well after Mr. Blue Car's passenger had been ejected from the vehicle, Mr./Ms. Maxima zooms ahead of him or her into the barely existent space in which to do so.
This spring I have the privilege of taking a leadership class taught by Tim Lautzenheiser. Lautzenheiser is a Ball State grad and a well-known cat in the field of music education. If you do nothing else before you graduate, I strongly recommend taking this class because -- mark my words -- it will forever change the way you see the world and how you live your life.
After the incident with the Gluteus Maxima, I immediately thought of a quotation that Dr. Tim shared on the first day of class: "When you have the choice to be right or be kind, always choose kind. You can go back and be right. You cannot go back and be kind."
Wouldn't it be great if people actually operated this way? Sure, there may have been space in front of the blue car, but what did Mr./Ms. Maxima gain by taking what was clearly open and available? The same number of cars got through the light, general rudeness in society was perpetuated, and the world kept turning.
The choice to be right or be kind is an important one that can make a difference both on a small scale in terms of respect and consideration and on a larger scale. I may be reopening a gargantuan can of worms, but if Officer Duplain had chosen to be kind on Nov. 8, whether he felt he was right, there may not be an incomplete family and a university riddled with controversy today. Now he is at a point where he cannot go back and be right or kind. There are certainly issues of personal responsibility that play a tremendous role, but everyone, not just people who put themselves into potentially dangerous situations, should consider the consequences of his or her decisions and think first of the other guy.
In the times of sadness and confusion that have recently plagued the university and community, it is especially important that we each take time to look out for the other guy despite whether he is willing to look out for us.
As you venture into the great unknown for Spring Break, keep this in mind.
And remember to always choose kind.
Write to Aleshia at aahaselden@bsu.edu
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