What do you see?

Look at the cute puppy dog!

It amazes me what I see as I drive. I put in quite a few hours on the road each week, and I see some of the worst driving and I see some crazy things almost everyday.

Last week I saw…

The picture above - what do you see in the back of the truck (hint - it’s not a dog and it’s shown at the bottom of this post)?

I saw someone dragging a 4 foot chain behind their truck, with pieces flying off. I passed him and beeped and he began the process of road rage, by jumping in behind me on my bumper...made me nervous, for a moment. I pointed to the back of his truck twice and he finally got it, pulling over to take the chain off.

I saw several really nice vehicles.

I saw some wrecks.

I saw some really rough looking cars.

I saw an incredible number of people texting and driving. Not just a quick text, but down in their laps.

I saw one guy reviewing, what looked like a term paper, as he was driving, on his steering wheel. This was not for just a moment...crazy.

I saw lost of people cutting others off, and running stops signs.

I saw some road rage.

I saw a couple of bumpers falling off cars, as they drove.

I watched people laughing hysterically, as they drove. This always makes me laugh.

I saw a couple of folks crying.

You can tell, I like to observe my surroundings. I think there’s a lot of interesting things in our world, and I’m a discovery channel kinda guy.

The strange thing is, we don’t always know what we’re seeing. We think we see something, like the “dog” in the back of the car, in the picture. It was actually a stick horse. Some of the road rage, was likely not road rage. Some of the cut offs, were likely accidental. We don’t always have our sight and thoughts matching up.

Here’s my fail, or point today…

Sometimes, I take a glance and figure I have the answer. 

I think that, just because I saw a little bit about something, that I must have the whole picture and the that my quick assumption must be right.

This may not be a big deal with a small traffic situation, or guessing what’s in the back of a truck, but with people this can really hurt. The old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” is true. 

We tend to make quick judgments about others, and don’t get down to the facts. What a relationship killer that can be, and it can sure hurt another person too.

I think we make these quick assumptions, because our whole society has become addicted to instant info and instant answers. 

Lessons Learned: Sometimes, we need to take time to get to the bottom of people, instead of quick guesses.

Thoughts: Do you ever trust only your first thought?

#failalot