While
I may not always understand people, for the most part I can give
them credit for their own choices.
And…
actually… right out of the gate that deserves a bit of clarification.
Let’s
say you and I are both looking around the marketplace for a new
car. You might be searching for something that will help out with
your work in construction. For that, it needs to be heavy duty,
capable of carrying tools and equipment, and you’re not as concerned
about passenger space or gas mileage as you are some other things.
I might be commuting forty or so miles to an office each day (eighty
round trip), and occasionally share the journey with a friend
or two that live nearby and work in the same building. For me,
something that can seat three or four people comfortably for a
fifty-minute drive and has the ability to stand up to four hundred
commuter miles per week with decent gas mileage has the top considerations.
In
both of those examples, neither you or I are wrong in the cars
we’re test driving. We simply have different needs. The idea that
I’m not going to even consider a pickup truck really has no bearing
on whether or not such a vehicle is the right choice for you.
To
the other extreme, I’ve never been a fan of the double-sink bathroom
counters. I don’t understand them. I see no need for them. (I
get that many people love them. I think they’re wrong.) I suppose
we might be able to arrive at some sort of agree to disagree settlement,
but I doubt it, because I simply don’t get the concept. If you
need more space in your bathroom, you likely need another bathroom
and not just another sink.
Still,
if you love the double-sink idea, more power to you. Enjoy. I
don’t want one in my house. You can do whatever you please in
yours.
The
idea flowing around in both of these examples is that from function
to personal preference, we all make decisions and choices. And
some of them don’t necessarily have practical or realistic reasons
for being made. No harm, though. For us, it works.
Where
our title question comes into play is when people seem to fly
against any and all proper thought when arriving at a selection.
And for that to be demonstrated, we’re headed to television.
Terry
and I occasionally record some shows for later viewing as mindless
entertainment options. You know the idea… it’s late at night and
you aren’t ready for bed so you want to watch something, and the
desire is to find something you can enjoy without having to pay
attention to each and every detail or need to have seen every
previous episode in order to know what’s going on.
One
such guilty pleasure for us is Love It or List It. And
the other day we were watching as a family of seven… seven… 7…
one, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN… family of seven
were weighing renovations to their current home against moving
into a new house.
It’s
at this point that I will reveal the current dwelling for the
family had five bedrooms and one bathroom.
I’ll
pause while that settles in.
Five
bedrooms.
One
bathroom.
Seven
people.
Not
one and a half bathrooms. Not one and three quarters. The house
was also in a somewhat near downtown without much surrounding
land setting, so not one and a convenient with some privacy tree
bathroom.
One
bathroom.
Around
the halfway point of the show, elements such as the unfolding
of conditions for the renovations along with the editing and storytelling
of the production were combining to make it seem like these folks
were leaning toward staying in the house that was going to continue
to be a one bathroom residence once the renovations were complete.
Now,
ok, it’s television. When it comes to something of reality television,
in many ways unscripted moments even when the storytelling is
being guided, the truth is often exaggerated for purposes of entertaining
and misleading the audience. Sure. We get that.
But
when a family of seven isn’t placing priority on adding a second
toilet… and at that, even just a second toilet, never mind a shower
or tub… you begin to question their ability to make any competent
decisions. Especially when they are sacrificing the second bathroom
for, say, a mudroom renovation. I don’t care how important a mudroom,
entryway coat storage solution, or garage may seem. There’s a
hierarchy of importance, and seven residents should place multiple
toilets way, way, way up that list.
The
question is: What were they thinking?
And,
there may just be an answer for it. A simple one. In short, they
weren’t.
One
morning on the way to work, the fuel indicator caught my eye.
Pressed for time, I knew I had just enough to make it to work
and back, and decided to fill the tank later in the day. As I
sat reflecting on this decision a few hours later, in a parking
lot of traffic on the highway caused by some unknown circumstances,
I considered the next exit still five miles ahead and the low
fuel light that had come on some twenty miles of driving earlier,
and it occurred to me I hadn’t thought of everything. I might
be walking. A lot. I might not be in a position to even pull to
the side of the road. This could get fun.
We
miss details. Experience is a good teacher. You get the drill.
But
the obvious… the oh so obvious… that’s where things go a bit daft.
College
friend of mine married the girl that completed him. (Stop, stop,
hold on. While a lovely story and they do make a great couple
that you would enjoy hanging out with, it’s not a soulmate type
of romantic screenplay. Instead…)
He
himself always admitted he had zero common sense. Decisions were
rough for him, and important decisions particularly frustrating.
And this fine lady was his perfect sounding board. She shared
his opinions and preferences and desires. What he liked she pretty
much universally liked as well. As an added bonus, she was an
incredible decisionmaker, overflowing with well-placed common
sense. All he needed to do was teach himself to bounce decisions
off of her before committing, trust her thoughts, and roll with
it. Worked out well.
She,
in many quite literal ways, completes him. (Again, wonderful couple.
Give them a call and meet up for lunch some time. You’ll have
a great afternoon.)
Where
I’m stepping in is this… I’m sorry for the people that may not
feel complete. Sorry for those that don’t seem to think. But I’m
less sorry for them when it appears that for whatever reason they
didn’t believe that repercussions of their actions were a possibility.
It’s
one thing to make a bad decision. It’s another to not think about
something completely, from beginning to end. We all make mistakes.
When faced with needs and options however, many of which are clear
and well-defined, to willfully ignore the obvious borders on intentional
negligence.
One
bathroom.
What
were they thinking?