a few years ago, i did a training where the instructor had us fill in a survey and then he told us what our negotiation personality was. he told me i was "rules-based." i can't remember the other possible outcomes, but i think quite a bit about that result, because i think it's accurate.
it feels to me that there is a lot of disrespect for the rules in the uk at the moment. the police don't have enough bandwidth to enforce the laws, and people assume it's fine to break them. fishermen leave their litter by the riverside. youth paint graffiti on the bridges and walls. people park in handicapped spots because they are too lazy to walk from the spaces farther away. it's against the law--and dangerous--to talk on your mobile phone while you drive, yet i see people doing it every day.
this week as i was driving madeline to nursery, i heard sirens. when i looked in my rear-view mirror, i could see an ambulance coming up behind me. now the law says to pull over, and to me there's no question that is the respectful thing to do anyway. so i signalled and pulled over to the side to allow it to pass. next thing i know, the bmw that was in the other lane, not far behind me, accelerated, passed me, and sped off down the road.
later that same day, i was sitting in our local starbucks having a sandwich. outside our starbucks are double yellow lines, which means you aren't supposed to park there. richard and i often complain to each other about the people we see pull up on them to run in to get a coffee or "just a few" groceries from the attached sainsbury's supermarket. as i was sitting eating my lunch this week, the person i saw pull up and park there was a police officer, in uniform, in his police car. he locked up, came inside, and stood in the queue for a grande latte.
It's the same in the states. How discouraging; we have bad behavior on both sides of the pond. One had hoped you would be more civilized, but obviously we both have people who were raised in a barn.
I was surveying in a shopping center last week and watched as a woman pulled up not 30 feet from me and tossed her trash out the window. She acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do.
Posted by: Bruce Small | February 09, 2007 at 11:37 PM