Everyone in our neighborhood walks their dogs this route. Three years ago I spent six months getting the City and County together to make us safe by striping a crosswalk. I got it done, even repainted two years later but no-one stops. Here it is mandatory to stop at a crosswalk. Instead they pass by over the speed limit and put an old lady and her even older dog in danger. That’s me/Z.
Here is my entitlement theory. Some people just think they’re more important than everyone else, or they are less smart and just think about themselves. We’ve been hounded by people riding the shoulder fleeing a Cat 4 hurricane on a nearly stopped highway. Solution. The truck ahead took the shoulder while we took the right lane and traffic picked up despite the potential driving thieves. Truck and we never met but got the gist and drove with it.
This morning people broke three glass bottles on the sidewalk, all the way across the street. At seven, I walked my dog around it, went for our walk and took her home a different way. Then I fed Z and got a broom and dustpan and cleaned it up. It’s not my job but I did it for everyone. I do not partake of this hard cider except as a marinade and eventual sauce for a pork roast, served to family with apples stuffed with cornbread.
I would never imagine smashing bottles on the sidewalk. Some folks don’t take the 1/4 second to close the trash chute. They negate the option for 19 floors of neighbors to use said chute but then again, they are more important than us.
At Wal-Mart once I asked the lady in front of me in line with bird food what she preferred and why, we were about to put up a hummingbird feeder and were new to town. She was very cagey until she found out who we were and knew my father so she decided to talk to us in line. At Wal-Mart. Class designations? Please do not go there.
My butchers are saints. Store clerks. Neighbors. Staff, I cook for them. At work it was and always will be servant leadership. You hire and empower your staff, train them, trust them to do their jobs and run the obstacle course to make sure all those obstacles are out of their way so the outcome is good.
Because my husband and I come from different universes in education, science vs what he calls “soft skills,” soc/psych I didn’t think we had much in common. Not true. We are agents of change and servant leaders. An old boss once told him he needed to train people for servant leadership, you don’t have to do it. That boss was recently fired.
Dear reader, take what I say to heart. I was just chewed to bits by a puppy yesterday but was and am a servant leader. I protected my charge. Look into this philosophy as it works with kids, too! Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 