Train Rides and Human Nature
So I ride the train and subway to and from work everyday, and it's been an interesting experience for me. You see, the train and subway are like their own little culture, with their own set of common customs and courtesies. When I first started riding, I had to learn that although I was sitting in the midst of a truly diverse and interesting group of people, saying things like "hello," and "good morning," are not common. Communication is all done by action not words. You don't say "excuse me" to someone blocking your way when you need to get up and move to the aisle, instead you begin to move in that direction and the person gets the hint.
There are plenty of other courtesies, of course, but there is one that is particularly interesting to me. I call it the "enter/exit courtesy," and it goes like this: Anyone who is exiting the train has priority over anyone who is entering. Even if there is a large of group people waiting to get on the train, they must wait until all those exiting the train have done so before they enter. Seems simple right? Like common sense even. Now let me complicate things a bit; let me throw in the "human element." The human element takes the form of a thought; something like: "I want a seat on the train so that I don't have to stand" or "I want to sit in the seniors section so that I'm not bothered by others wanting to sit next to me," or "I can't be late for work," or whatever else you can think of. Whatever the motive, once the human element takes hold, you'll begin to see individuals sneak on the train while others are still exiting. And in worst case senerio, this turns into a domino effect as whole groups of people begin flooding through the doors without regard for those who may need to get off. ...After all, if one person is willing to follow his selfish impulse why shouldn't one more be allowed to? ...or so the logic goes.
Well, this exact situation happened earlier this week. I had just gotten off of work, and was on my way to the train station. By the time I arrived, the platform was already full of people who were waiting for the train. The human element must have been in full effect that day, because as soon as the train arrived and the doors opened, a mob of people begin to rush in. At first it was just a few, then a couple more, but soon, the flood gates opened and bodies rushed in from all sides. Naturally, those exiting the train wouldn't stand for this, so they begin forcing their way upstream through the river of entering bodies. It was a sight to behold!
But then I saw something that angered me. There was still quite a few people who needed to get on the train, and it looked as if everyone who needed to get off had gotten off. But, just as I was about to enter, I noticed that there was still a man who needed to get off, and he was obviously crippled because he walked with a limp. He did manage to put up a furious fight though, battling his way to about 6 feet from the exit before the raging river or bodies overpowered him, and he gave up in frustration. There was nothing he could do but stand where he was at. As he stood there stranded, I looked in amazement as people walked anxiously around him in order to secure a seat.
Now, I had decided to hold my ground and wait outside the train until everyone had exited. At this point, I looked the crippled man in the eyes, gave a quick smile, and indicated that I would wait for him to exit. As I did so, something strange happened: Others who could have easily entered and went around the stranded man, instead decided to wait along with me. In fact, there was an anxious women who got caught behind me against her will. She wanted nothing more then to get on the train and to find a seat, but I was blocking her way in. Once she finally got around me, and noticed that everyone else was waiting for this man too, she changed her attitude and decided to wait as well.
This is an interesting story no doubt, but I think there's more to the story then meets the eye. When I reflect on this event, it tells me two things about human nature:
1. Each of us tends to think, "It's all about me! Me, me, me, me, ME!!!!!!"
2. It only takes a little bit of encouragement FROM OTHERS to break us from this spell, even if only temporarily.
This raises many interesting questions: What does this say about how we ought to live our lives as Christians in a Christian community (the church)? What does this say about accountability? Carrying one another's burdens? How do we keep each other from giving into our own sinful natures? How do we encourage one another? What does this say about passages like Hebrews 10:23-25?
What do you think?
(...btw, I know that I'm the "hero" of this story, but at sometime in the near future I will confess to you another story that shows just how selfish I can be.)
-Tim
So I ride the train and subway to and from work everyday, and it's been an interesting experience for me. You see, the train and subway are like their own little culture, with their own set of common customs and courtesies. When I first started riding, I had to learn that although I was sitting in the midst of a truly diverse and interesting group of people, saying things like "hello," and "good morning," are not common. Communication is all done by action not words. You don't say "excuse me" to someone blocking your way when you need to get up and move to the aisle, instead you begin to move in that direction and the person gets the hint.
There are plenty of other courtesies, of course, but there is one that is particularly interesting to me. I call it the "enter/exit courtesy," and it goes like this: Anyone who is exiting the train has priority over anyone who is entering. Even if there is a large of group people waiting to get on the train, they must wait until all those exiting the train have done so before they enter. Seems simple right? Like common sense even. Now let me complicate things a bit; let me throw in the "human element." The human element takes the form of a thought; something like: "I want a seat on the train so that I don't have to stand" or "I want to sit in the seniors section so that I'm not bothered by others wanting to sit next to me," or "I can't be late for work," or whatever else you can think of. Whatever the motive, once the human element takes hold, you'll begin to see individuals sneak on the train while others are still exiting. And in worst case senerio, this turns into a domino effect as whole groups of people begin flooding through the doors without regard for those who may need to get off. ...After all, if one person is willing to follow his selfish impulse why shouldn't one more be allowed to? ...or so the logic goes.
Well, this exact situation happened earlier this week. I had just gotten off of work, and was on my way to the train station. By the time I arrived, the platform was already full of people who were waiting for the train. The human element must have been in full effect that day, because as soon as the train arrived and the doors opened, a mob of people begin to rush in. At first it was just a few, then a couple more, but soon, the flood gates opened and bodies rushed in from all sides. Naturally, those exiting the train wouldn't stand for this, so they begin forcing their way upstream through the river of entering bodies. It was a sight to behold!
But then I saw something that angered me. There was still quite a few people who needed to get on the train, and it looked as if everyone who needed to get off had gotten off. But, just as I was about to enter, I noticed that there was still a man who needed to get off, and he was obviously crippled because he walked with a limp. He did manage to put up a furious fight though, battling his way to about 6 feet from the exit before the raging river or bodies overpowered him, and he gave up in frustration. There was nothing he could do but stand where he was at. As he stood there stranded, I looked in amazement as people walked anxiously around him in order to secure a seat.
Now, I had decided to hold my ground and wait outside the train until everyone had exited. At this point, I looked the crippled man in the eyes, gave a quick smile, and indicated that I would wait for him to exit. As I did so, something strange happened: Others who could have easily entered and went around the stranded man, instead decided to wait along with me. In fact, there was an anxious women who got caught behind me against her will. She wanted nothing more then to get on the train and to find a seat, but I was blocking her way in. Once she finally got around me, and noticed that everyone else was waiting for this man too, she changed her attitude and decided to wait as well.
This is an interesting story no doubt, but I think there's more to the story then meets the eye. When I reflect on this event, it tells me two things about human nature:
1. Each of us tends to think, "It's all about me! Me, me, me, me, ME!!!!!!"
2. It only takes a little bit of encouragement FROM OTHERS to break us from this spell, even if only temporarily.
This raises many interesting questions: What does this say about how we ought to live our lives as Christians in a Christian community (the church)? What does this say about accountability? Carrying one another's burdens? How do we keep each other from giving into our own sinful natures? How do we encourage one another? What does this say about passages like Hebrews 10:23-25?
What do you think?
(...btw, I know that I'm the "hero" of this story, but at sometime in the near future I will confess to you another story that shows just how selfish I can be.)
-Tim
Labels: Culture and Theology
posted by Tim at 9:53 PM
4 Comments:
Nice blog Tim. Yeah public transportaion is strange. No one looks at eachother, no one talks to eachother, I call this Publictransportationageddon. I dont really call it that. But yeah, these sorts of places: buses, grocery lines, the God forsaken DMV could be a good platform to show people that there is something different about when you get an oppurtunity to lend a hand; which will leave them confused, scratching their heads until they see that you have a "Godweiser: king of kings" shirt on. (ive really seen this shirt before, but its been awhile) Nice one though man, definitely something for me to think about in those situations. I guess i need to see routine as oppurtunity.
Yes absolutely! Perfect opportunities to show Christ, I agree. Now if only I could remember this more ;-)
It's always strange to hear people complain that they don't know what God wants them to do in this life, yet there are SO MANY opportunities in their lives to fulfill their ultimate call: the Great Commission! -- Right there on the bus, or plane, or at work, or among friends, or at the video store. The opportunities are everywhere, and God places us in them daily.
-Tim
Yeah this sucks. People tend to be angry at this world, carrying about nothing but themself. Not to show people shame but being handicaped myself I see this everyday. When I take the bus, it sometimes gets crowded. Like today, coming home from school, the first bus was crowded but not to crowded and people seem to be nice to me seeing I walked with a cane. The second bus though I got on to was crowded and I squeezed to get a sit. Which was ok, but when I was getting off people were rude. They made getting off hard and made me squeeze from one side to the other instead of helping me. Your right even though you were polite here you can be mean just like me. But thanks be to God he doesn't hold to accountable
You know, it never even crossed my mind that you would have first hand knowledge of all this. It's terrible that you have to deal with this on a daily basis because people can be real jerks sometimes.
I do believe that God will hold us ALL accountable for all our actions though.
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