The Idiot Who Cut Me Off

Sometimes I forget that people are people.

Does that make sense?

I was reminded this weekend to see a person in every person. A soul in every body. An individual in every human. And this is the most important rule that I hang on to.

There's something called the fundamental attribution error (FAE), which you probably have heard of if you've taken an introductory psychology course. (If you didn't hear about it in your class, you probably weren't paying attention, or your teacher was totally robbing you of important information.) Now, sorry to break it to you dear friends of mine, but humans make a lot of mistakes that we are not always aware of. The basic idea of the FAE is that we tend to overestimate how much someone else's personal attributes are influencing their actions, and we underestimate how much that someone's situation is influencing their actions. Por ejemplo...

Have you ever been cut off by that idiot during rush hour? He's a total a**hole, right? But here's another question, and be honest about this one. Have you ever cut someone off during rush hour? Chances are you have, and you probably don't consider yourself a bad person. If you have ever cut someone off, you may have had a perfectly good reason (the guy behind you was about to rear-end your car). Do you see what I'm getting at?

I've noticed that I become much less judgmental when I admit that I don't know the situations that people are in. The driver who I think is recklessly speeding may have a friend in the hospital. The teacher who I think is inconsiderate of her students may be going through a divorce. The person drinking the energy drink may have had to stay up all night with a sick child. It's really hard to give people excuses for their actions. But I'm not giving them excuses. I'm simply trying to put myself in their shoes, and acknowledging the fact that I will probably never know why the person in the suit is yelling over the phone. Perhaps they are really mean, but perhaps they are expressing their frustration at some unmentionable injustice. Perhaps it's a combination of the two.

It's the last day of 2013. Tonight, when you look around at the people at the party, or the restaurant, or even the TV, give them a chance to be a person.

Happy last day of 2013! :)


TL;DR: A person's a person, if only you notice.

The Best Food Advice You'll Ever Get

Read this article. It will take one minute, and it is the best advice I have ever read about food and dieting. Kudos to the author for being so concise and conscientious of various people's needs.

:)

Free Online Movie Till December 10th!

If you haven't watched Food Matters yet, and you don't have a Netflix account to watch it on, the movie is free on their website until December 10th :)

It really is an awesome movie, and a great way to spend a weekend evening. Here is the link to the movie.

Enjoy!

Fluke

I am looking for food.

I am finding leftover soup.

I am heating it up.

I am putting my dog on my bed.

I am fetching the soup.

I am sitting on my bed.

I am looking for something to watch on YouTube.

I am watching the screen.

My dog is watching me.

I am closing my computer.

I am scratching his ears.

I am talking to him.

I am listening to his sniffs.

I am having a meal with my best friend.

I needed him to remind me that I cannot substitute a moment with a friend for any electronic gadget in the world.

Happy Sunday :)

TL;DR: A friend a day keeps the sadness away.