We’ve all experienced the “what were they thinking?” moment when we see something stupid being done by others. My wife likes to say that you can’t fix stupid. You can but it does take some thinking.
For example, the other morning I received a call in my home office. The caller asked for someone whose name I didn’t recognize and who obviously wasn’t in my home. I politely told the caller that there was no one here by that name and that they had the wrong number. Instead of saying thank you or sorry, the caller asked me first if I was sure that person wasn’t here and then if I knew a phone number where they could find the person? I stopped being polite and told the caller it was a stupid question. His response was that he had to ask. Why, he didn’t say. At this point, my mischievous side emerged and I asked if he knew who had lived in his home before he did. He said no. I then asked if he knew their phone number and he said no. So, he asked the question again, did I knew this person’s new phone number. I hung up. What was this person thinking?
Many years ago, when my wife and I purchased our first house, we had a cedar fence installed around the perimeter of the property. Doing so, closed off a shortcut that many children used to walk to and from school. That was one of our intentions in building the fence. One afternoon, there was a knock on the door. There were two women who explained they lived in the neighborhood behind us. They came to register a complaint that our fence was adding five minutes each way to their children’s’ walk to and from school. Then they asked if I would put a gate in the fence, so that their kids could resume using their shortcut. They didn’t offer to pay for it, but even if they had, I would have repeated the same answer that I did give them, no. What were they thinking?
The answer is they weren’t thinking.
How often do we see items in this newspaper and others about people who are killed or narrowly escape death or injury when they try to beat a train at a crossing? You don’t have to be a genius to know that the train always wins that contest.
We all know someone who has been ticketed for speeding in the downtown core. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour and it is posted on signs throughout the downtown. The solution is very simple. If you don’t want the ticket, don’t exceed 25 on Monterey Road. And don’t complain when you do and get caught.
The southeast corner of Dunne and Condit has been the subject of the Times’ Eyesore of the Week column. Lots of trash in this undeveloped lot and an absentee owner. It looks awful. The property owner complains they can’t keep up with people who look at that corner as a place to dump their trash. The people who do that are vandals who are degrading our community. What were they thinking and what were the property owners thinking? While I can sympathize with the owners and their inability to keep the lot clean, it is their responsibility to do so, regardless of the thoughtless and idiotic actions of others. You can bet that the owners wouldn’t tolerate this at their homes or offices and those who toss their trash their wouldn’t tolerate it at their homes. We shouldn’t tolerate this desecration of our community along one of our busiest streets.
And then there was the recent item in the newspaper’s Red Phone column about the person who wanted to know why they were no longer able to use a parking lot on private property while visiting a nearby school. What was this person thinking? Aside from the liability issues and the potential inconvenience to this business’ customers, how would this person feel if someone parked in their driveway while visiting a neighbor?
It takes only a few seconds to think something through. Doing so can often lead to a better solution and one that may not lead people to ask, “what were they thinking?”
David Cohen, a member of this newspaper’s editorial board, is a corporate speechwriter. He also serves as president of the Community Law Enforcement Foundation of Morgan Hill, a grassroots organization in support of the Morgan Hill Police Department. Reach him at
da*********@hd*.com
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