Do I Need So Much Advice if That Advice Is Just So Much Common Sense
Posted: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
If you turn on the television, radio, log on the internet, or open the newspaper you'll all too frequently find that stout and serious man or woman giving you your much needed advice:
"Are you looking to get some sleep with three youngsters running about? Remember to, A, put them down for a nap and take one yourself. B, don't feed them sweets before that nap. And C, keep the environment void of any potential noise that may inhibit your precious sleep."
"Married and in need of more private time? Just be honest and tell your husband that you need some more time. And remember to be exact. If you need three hours, tell him. Don't simply say, "I just need more time." Ask your boss if you can take off early one day. But before you do, make sure there's not a lot going on. And finally, get the kids to bed earlier by an hour. You'll be amazed how much additional time an hour actually is in a busy schedule."
I'm sorry, but I've seldom if ever heard any "five minute" advice that never mind helped me but interested me to listen to this person any further or ever again in the least. Most of this advice is watered down pabulum that very rarely if ever takes into consideration the complexity of human nature and the great number of individual situations that people, couples, and families present. And unfortunately, people have got it into their heads that since they see so many advice experts and their books, CDs, and television appearances that THEY should jump in and give their two cents as well. But just like we don't need more lawyers, we certainly don't need most if not all of any new advice givers.
However, I may be wrong. My opinion may just be . . . uncommon.
The major problem is that common sense is just not common anymore. It used to be, but I think too much television and the ultimate need for more entertainment, any entertainment, has softened our brains in the extreme setting us up for our current fall. Why has it gotten to the point where we have to consult an expert on how to wash our dog when I remember doing it decently because my father simply told me that if I didn't I might not have a dog any more, never mind my head. Now THAT'S motivational coaching!
But I'm beginning to fully realize this common problem of a lack of common sense is . . . well, pretty common. Case in point.
My wife and I left the teenagers at home and took our 3-year-old to a carnival sponsored by the local police last week. As an aside, I love those guys. Police and firefighters are near and dear to my heart. And no, it has little to nothing to do with the after 9/11 I-love-a-rescue-worker craze. For some time, I've admired their great big giving hearts. Who else but a kind person would take such a small salary and put their lives on the line? And sanity, especially that of the officer protecting the crosswalk at the carnival last week.
This carnival was nothing smalltime. There were thousands of people and lots, and lots of traffic. The brave police at the impromptu crosswalk occasionally stepped into oncoming traffic going about 30 to 40 mph to stop it for pedestrians. An officer did this at one point as my wife and I with Mikie, along with a dozen others, prepared to cross. Now I didn't see what happened next. But I did see the suspect in question; the woman in her Mercedes SUV parked on the side of the road, previous to the crime.
Allegedly, as the people were walking, the woman just started driving into them. According to my wife, the cop had to literally slam his hands onto the hood of the car to get her to stop. Another police officer told my wife that stuff like that happens all the time.
All the time? Are these people listening to all these common sense coaches? Is all the work of these list-builders going to waste? What of all that great advice?
Here's some for you. "If you are in a Mercedes, meaning that you've got a lot of money, you probably think that the rest of the world exists only to cater to you. This is not true. Please, when driving your Mercedes, Jaguar, or Hummer make sure that those things outside the car that look so much like you (yes, take a quick look in the mirror if you have to) are human just like you and they can be injured or killed by your vehicle."
But here's another incident attesting to the fact that these advice people may just be barking up a tree without a cat in it.
My wife and I were sitting at a light on a four lane back road waiting for the light to change. And with moderate traffic and about ten to twelve cars waiting, some genius in a truck after dropping off a friend jerked it at the waiting traffic like a man with hammer making room for himself so he could cut in front of us and then swiftly get into traffic moving in the opposite direction, which had to swerve and sway to miss him to boot.
Now as the police officer can attest, these incidents of genius, obviously done by people not taking advantage of all this great advice coming at them from their radios, televisions, and Internet are suffering from a lack of common sense.
I guess I'm mistaken in my initial analysis. We do need this overly obvious advice, but the issue at hand really is how do we get it to all these people so much in arrears when it comes to making solid choices based on such common, common sense advice?
These are dire times and I just don't have the answers. But we need your help. Your cards and letters are appreciated. And as you write, remember that the health of our general public hangs in the balance.
This Article has been viewed 223 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)hi jeff,teenagers and a 3 year old, huh? now, that's got to be interesting.this was a well written article, as usual, and now, let me give you some advice,syke!thanks for sharing,best regards,sueSusan,Thanks for responding. What we need is a parenting school, so parents can get some clue as to what they'll face and the terrors and horrors of three-year-olds and teenagers ;=)
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.