THE funny thing about common sense is how uncommon it is.
Think about it. Every day we encounter things that in theory should be simple and uncomplicated – you know, as they say, “it’s just common sense” – but yet get messed up and nonsensical in the end somehow, for whatever reason. It’s that big disconnect between knowing and doing. We’ve been taught what’s right, yet we pick the wrong path. We know what the best choice is, yet we choose to ignore it. Our gut feeling tells us the route to take, and yet we stray quite often in our lives, from the little things to the big profound things.
For instance, we all know that when the traffic light turns red, it means ‘stop’. But how many times have we run it, simply because “there’s no one else around/it’s late anyways/no traffic CCTV”? We all know the dangers of speeding, yet we treat the speed limit signs as street decoration, risking lives and limbs just to get to our destinations a couple of minutes earlier. We’re smart enough to know drinking should not mix with driving, and yet DUI cases aren’t subsiding and drunk driving fatalities only grow each year. And we all certainly know what a zebra crossing means – yet when was the last time we actually respected it by letting pedestrians use it without fear of being run over?
We’re all brought up to be nice to people, because we’re taught that chances are, the positive vibe will catch on (“a smile will beget more smiles”) and people will be nice to us too. But why is it that sometimes it’s so hard to meet nice people? Why is it so hard for us to just be courteous to one another, consider each other’s feelings and behave like civilised people? Why do business owners let their sales staff be rude to customers when they very well know customers are their life?
We’ve all been told to eat healthy and practise healthy lifestyle. We’ve heard all the advice to stop smoking, go on a diet, hit the gym et cetera, but somehow, despite all the warning signs – wheezing when climbing stairs, disproportionate love handles, increasing number of relatives keeling over from heart disease – we continue living like our bodies are immune to death.
We know that it’s just common sense to not spend more than we can earn – to ‘live within your means’, yet we splurge on that pretty, shiny thing just because “it’s on sale”, busting our budget (if we ever had one in the first place). We realise that the credit card is NOT cash, yet we choose to treat it like it’s a bottomless supply of daddy’s money.
Deep inside, we all know how powerful and dangerously open the internet can be, yet we behave as if no one can touch us online. Despite understanding the fact that anything you put online is FOREVER, we upload compromising pictures of ourselves or our loved ones, and not expect those pictures to haunt us later. We post incendiary comments or materials about our colleagues, bosses, in-laws or relatives on our Facebook, yet forget that either they or their friends are on our Facebook friends list. We fail to remember that the six degrees of separation rule works even faster online – we’ll have to answer for the crap we put up a whole lot faster.
We know we only live once – yet we don’t live it to the fullest. We waste precious time bitching about how some other people have ‘made it’ when ‘we deserve it more’. We sit around wondering when our big break will come, when we know most of the time, successful people don’t wait for opportunities – they go out and make theirs. We don’t make our move, fearing the possibility of failure, when we already know the ultimate failure is simply not to try.
We know what matters most in our lives – our loved ones – yet we choose to ignore them and their needs. We all know that all the treasure in the world won’t matter if we don’t do any good with it, or have no one to share it with. Yet we think that spoiling our kids with money and gifts will make up us not showering them with our love and attention.
We know that whatever religion we subscribe to, whichever god we pray to, karma does work – we’ll reap what we sow – yet we take what’s not ours, ignoring the fact that there really is no ‘victimless crime’.
We all KNOW these things. It’s common sense. Nobody needs to preach to us the benefits or dangers of every single thing we face every day. We are all sensible people, who can think about action and consequences, measure the pros and cons, and make the most informed and appropriate choices. And yet we continuously ignore what we know, and do what we know are bad for us. We keep thinking, “It’s not going to happen to us”.
It really doesn’t make any sense, does it?
And of course, we’ve all heard the dangers of procrastinating, and yet, despite knowing my looming deadline to hand in this column, I waited till the last minute …
Irwan Abdul Rahman is the executive editor, lifestyle, entertainment and new media of The Malay Mail, in addition to being the paper’s resident cartoonist. He draws inspiration from the wonderful people around him, sometimes even using their stories or likeness as basis for his cartoons, yet will not pay them a single sen. The tight bastard blogs at www.nose4news.wordpress.com and can be contacted at irwan@mmail.com.my.
