The other day I needed to rinse something. It didn’t need to happen in that exact minute, but I walked to the kitchen sink, swivelled the tap and put the baby’s cup under the steady flow of water that my daughter had been using to fill containers. I might even have nudged her gently to the side with a, “Sorry, I just need to quickly do this.”
She let me do my thing, good natured child that she is, and when I was done she carried on with her business. A few nights later I was washing dishes when someone stole my tap to fill up their water bottle. “Hey! I’m in the middle of a job, can you wait?” I spluttered indignantly.
You see, things don’t matter so much when I am doing them….the fault is not so faulty. I can see very clearly when others commit a foul, though. When I need the water, I need it now, but if others need the water they must wait for their turn.
Pushing in and jumping queues says one main thing: I am more important than you.
Who do we think we are?
We have a big problem with our driving here in Harare. The number of vehicles on our roads has increased exponentially, for starters. Our roads are falling apart in many areas and so people aren’t able to drive straight even if they wanted to. We are avoiding and dodging our way from A to B. Our traffic lights also don’t always work, and so we have to judge whose turn it is to go next. Over time, we have become a city of drivers who know the rules of the road, but have to make up new rules as we go along. We have had to become more assertive but have also become a little more bargy, and a lot more rude.
Some people even overtake on the left. Overtaking on the right does still happen, but often into on-coming traffic so that three lanes are created where there are only, officially, two. It’s so stressful for all of us, that we just want to get to where we are going as quickly as we can.
Once, I drove very assertively – well over the speed limit, overtaking and jumping red lights whenever I could. I was taking a bleeding child to A and E and as I think about it now – that’s the only time rules of the road should be bent and broken; when we are genuinely in a predicament and in need of help. If this were the case, unusually bad driving would be very rare and everyone would excuse it, make room and even say a prayer for the driver.
Whether we are at the sink or on the road, let’s quit feeding the monster in our midst that says, “It’s all about me, I am more important than you and you can wait.” Let’s wait for our turns and stay in our lanes, letting others in with a friendly wave and smile; and I am not just meaning on the roads.
Galatians 5 v 7 “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?”
Matthew 22 v39 “Love others as well as you love yourself.”
See you at the lights, rev rev
– jokes!
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