While travelling this Memorial Day Weekend, I noticed several instances that led me to come to the following questions: does our society really not realize that our behavior & actions affect everyone? Have we as individuals really become "bubble people"? Can we no longer think beyond our need for instant gratification?

On my way to the train station, I saw a mother peeling the wrapper of a piece of gum to give to her child. As she handed the gum to her daughter, she threw the wrapper on the subway floor. She then took more "garbage" out of her bag and dropped it onto the same subway floor. I watched her continue to do this in front of her child. Mind you, she was about three steps away from a big garbage can.

While driving to my friend's ranch in the Blue Mountains, we stopped by a Burger King. A family had also stopped to have lunch. While waiting for their sandwiches to come, the kids got their drinks and proceeded to choose a table. In their commotion, one of the kids spilled their drink all over a table and floor. Not a couple of splashes but half of a large drink (which we know is quite a large amount). As his parents approached, they saw the mess, reprimanded the child, BUT did absolutely nothing to get the mess cleaned up. No napkins were put down to absorb the liquid (although those are free) and no staff was alerted of the mess which the rest of the customers had to avoid.

I got to thinking how this type of behavior also occurs in the gym. How many times have you come across used razors left on the vanities, bar soap wrappers left in the shower stall, soggy towels left all over the lockerroom, and, worst of all, toilet paper or used tissues not picked up by the person who dropped them there. All with the fact that there are receptacles for all this waste mere steps away.

As much as I can, I try to clear up what I use or don't use so that it is not offensive or disruptive to anyone else. Why has our society stopped thinking that our actions affect others? As we have become a community with more ways of communication & education, we have become a society of selfish, inconsiderate, and self-absorbed robots.

I worry that we will pass on this behavior to following generations. It's easy to sit here and just think that I won't be around for the next generation and that is their problem not mine. But it is our problem. Our behavior now affects not just them but it affects us. That mother's child will learn to "not use a trash can". The children at the Burger King will not learn how to "clean up after themselves." And who does that affect? It affects us because we have to compensate for them.

I feel that it can change. It takes just one person to do something to influence others. I always re-rack the weights properly in-between sets as I work out. I pick up towels and throw them into the used-towel bins. I like to think that someone else notices and at the very least appreciates. Then maybe sometime down the line that person will do the same thing for someone else. So the next time you get a chance, throw out the used soap wrapper in the shower, kindly inform the housekeeping staff of the mess in the lockerroom. Do something. It does not take much. Later.  ¶ 5:19 PM