TOW#607 — Being conscientious
I don’t know whether this text will be more like advice or whether I just want to encourage and/or force you to have a think about it. I was in Ohrid over the 2 August weekend and two interesting things happened that are connected by a common thread.
The first situation was that I was scolded for my bad parking by a lady that was passing on the pavement pushing a child in a stroller. Just to be clear, whenever it’s a busy period in Ohrid, cars are parked bumper to bumper on the pavement at that particular place. Although while parking I made sure to leave space for pedestrians, when I got out of the car the lady told me that I should go park at the end of the pavement and make more space for pedestrians.
Am I to blame!? 100%. I parked illegally. Was there an opportunity to argue and try to explain that there’s room for pedestrians, that there are too many cars and not enough parking places, that in ‘crisis’ situations you have to adapt to the conditions, plus a million other excuses? Yes, I could have.
In the second situation, I was paying by card at the toll booth near Gostivar and the guy working there scolded me for paying by card even though there were long lines at the toll!? He said I should have been more conscientious and considerate towards others and not use a card, because that was causing a bigger delay. Now, in this case, I was a little confused, because right in front of me at the toll booth there was a huge sign that read ‘pay the toll by card.’
In any case, in both situations the issue at hand was whether or not I was being conscientious, and to what degree.
What is conscientiousness?!
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, ‘conscientiousness’ means a sense of moral responsibility to do things diligently, and to be fair towards others.
How conscientious are we all!? How conscientious are you!?
I told a friend, who’s known in our circle of friends for his conscientiousness, about the first situation and we talked about whether I was guilty, and to what extent. Naturally, being a very conscientious person, he had a go at me for not doing the right thing. Of course, I totally agreed. I parked illegally. However, his argument was that it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re conscientious, but how conscientious you are — a lot or a little. This I don’t agree with.
For me, you’re either pregnant or you’re not. There’s no ‘a little pregnant’. Because, if we look at the definition “feeling of moral responsibility and fairness towards others”, we must then ask whether moral and fair means the same for me as it does for you!? If we’re conscientious and sometimes scold others who are not, do we in all other situations stick 100% to what we represent or do we sometimes cross over into the grey area.
If we’re conscientious, and get angry at those who walk across the pedestrian crossing when it’s red, or jaywalk, or don’t stop for pedestrians, or if we comment on someone who’s left their car in the middle of the road with the hazard lights on, and if we’re sometimes rude and critical, then we shouldn’t violate those rules in any such situation. Have you ever broken a rule!?
If you 100% stick to your principles and attitudes in practice, then great, good for you, otherwise, in my opinion, it’s just being hypocritical and arrogant towards others.
Basically, with this text I want to encourage you (and myself) the next time we’re being ‘conscientious’ and telling others what they should or shouldn’t do, to ask ourselves “have I ever done this?”. It might just sober us up a little!
Wishing you success with the changes to come,
Petar Lazarov
Member of the Team
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