A Lack of Common Sense
Rules and regulations cannot substitute rudimentary intelligence.
Have you noticed how people in search of fun or in a hurry or simply blinded by technology are endangering themselves and others? Looking back to the last months, we have seen multiple accidents with fatalities due to overspeeding or overtaking. Motorbike riders and cyclists are overseen or overestimate their own abilities. We had car drivers with children on board speeding on the motorway, a father taking his nineyear-old daughter to climb a mountain which is difficult even for adults and several people who needed to be rescued from the mountains because they were inadequately equipped or not fit enough. Two men died while trying to raft down the Salzachöfen which is strictly forbidden. The list is endless. What is happening to our society? Is life so boring that one dares risk losing it for “fun”?
Austria is a country with a lot of regulations and red tape, which we sometimes grumble about, but a lot of these regulations are there for a reason. Ignoring them endangers yourself and others. Maybe we need to teach children a new subject at school called “Survival in the Urban Jungle and Beyond”! But teachers cannot set right what children learn by emulating their parents. We used to be careful of cars and roads. Remember the look-left-and-then-right-andthen-left-again mantra that you were taught at school? Well, it is still taught at school but if parents cross the roads with their children at undesignated points in the midst of traffic what will their children learn? My personal pet peeve is that pedestrians still keep on walking when they see a car reversing out of a parking lot. They seem to be unaware that there are blind spots and that the driver has difficulty seeing them no matter how much he cranes his neck or looks in the mirror. I don’t know about you but I always stop when I see someone reversing because I do not want to end up in hospital with a broken leg or worse!
Many have written about the dangers of phoning or texting while driving but what about those smombies who cross the road without even looking up from their smartphones? Also, to those people who litter the streets and shoulders of the motorway: you do know that your taxes are used for the necessary clean-ups which have to be undertaken regularly? The more I think about it the more I am convinced that we are living in an age where common sense has gone out of the window. Modern adults are behaving more and more like little children and modern governments are being led by these so-called “adults”! It is all about “me first” or “my country first” or “my bank account first”. We should be thinking more about “us” in general. Maybe it is time to evaluate our daily actions and see how they affect those around us, our lives, our environment. What we definitely need is more empathy. Putting oneself in someone else’s shoes would be a good way to start understanding problems on a deeper level.
Common sense dictates that, as we are living in a world with over 7 billion people, we need to come together and find solutions to problems which are getting bigger and bigger and which no single individual or country can solve. Now you may think that is a big leap for a column which started with a lack of common sense in certain individuals but it all boils down to choices made by individuals. Before acting impulsively we need to think about our actions. So take your children to the zebra crossing and reinforce what their teachers tell them. Take mountain hikes which are appropriate to your age and wear proper shoes and equipment. Be aware that cars are dangerous things. Think about what you are buying. Think about what you are throwing away. Follow those regulations. Remember: you reap what you sow.