To Forget that Others Exist.

c. David Grim (taken 8/3/09)

And yet this too...

"I'm wondering why so many exurbanites display a bovine herd-like mentality with absolutely no awareness of the concept of personal space. I guess it's self-evident that human proximity encourages a sense of conscious orientation regarding our fellow creatures. Perhaps it's necessary to cull the herd, but if it's not the appropriate response in your context, and the truth is that we rarely talk of such a need, no matter how obvious it seems, then we must seek an alternative solution (no matter how temporary). You might think that people who live in a place with more acreage for each inhabitant would have an intuitive sense for how others might value breathing room. But yet so often we learn that these folks have only learned to take space for granted. They have developed the ability to forget that others exist. This is why they drive cars with size that appears completely gratuitous. This is why they wander in public spaces obliviously, as if their agenda alone mattered. Ultimately this is also why so many of them become progressively close-minded rather than gaining the useful perspective that there are alternative opinions, ideas, beliefs and ways to live that may be (and often are) just as much (and often more) valid then their own."

To be continued...