a running shoe for every occasion
Our city of the perpetual pothole takes great pride in its public transit system and we availed ourselves of the services today (at $3 a clip I might add) to get to a months-long-awaited dermatologist’s appointment. It is still cheaper than parking in a lot where the valet figures our ride is a better choice for doing a few quick errands than that new Mercedes and a good way to force ourselves to sit back and find out what is really going on in the world. The only thing that seems to have really changed since we used to do this on a daily basis is that everyone is either plugged in or glued to a small device. Those who weren’t looked dazed and tired – maybe it was the time of day or perhaps just the times.
The return rush hour trip entailed a quick scramble to make the connection and we were lucky enough to park ourselves quite comfortably in one of the last available seats. End of day commuters, students, shoppers and old people all filed in silently, anxious to get home. Our urban melting pot gets a lot of visitors starting around this time of year and many arrive without much more than a basic knowledge of either official language: this makes deciphering our unnecessarily complex ticketing system problematic. Doing so with kids in tow is even more of a party game.
We watched two very small children wander up and down the aisle, twice. It didn’t seem to phase them that they couldn’t see the parent for the knees and we could hear the driver trying to explain that only one ticket was needed (under-sixes ride free) before a woman made her way back with her charges. The thought of them swaying back and forth, with her trying to hold onto both without losing one to sudden stops and swerves was just too much. I got up and offered her my seat. She shook her head to decline but we prevailed and could see the visible relief on her face.
The crux of this tale lies not in doing the right thing ourselves but in how many people don’t. The man with the good tie and mediocre suit years younger than us could easily have gotten up before us or even offered the mother his own seat so she could sit beside her two children now crammed into ours. Looking around we realized that there were any number of people who could have stepped up, but they didn’t. So we hung off the strap like the well-seasoned traveller we are until the unconscious hordes thinned out and we could sit down again. This fortnight the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge realizes that sometimes our – Expectations – what we think is a given in society about how people should act, actually have no basis in reality. We can only hope that our own actions may have made them think.
“What do expectations represent for you?” – A quick response or satisfying result, respect for an effort made or just a gentle thank-you, the bloom of a spring bulb, bark of a dog at the postman, the sun to come up in the morn or the stars to shine at night… We would love to see your vision.
For all those who are new readers to Across the Bored, some great entries and the guidelines for this fortnight’s challenge can be found here. Need more info or want to browse past themes? Have a look at HOW DOES THIS WORK.
ACROSS THE BORED 
I love your photo! I might have a go at this.
http://lovehappynotes.com/2014/05/27/lists-the-life-you-want/
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Please do!
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It’s good that at least you had the decency to give her your seat, even if the rest of the people didn’t bother to get up.
Expectations are important, especially visual expectations. I saw a documentary about it yesterday: people were fed red colored jelly that had a citrus flavor, but the people in the test all said that it tasted like berries and/or cherry.
The same people tried wine from a box, served in two different bottles – one with a cheap looking label and one with an expensive looking label. They all preferred the expensive one, even though it was the exact same wine! One guy even said it was the best wine he’d ever tasted!
So expectations are important.
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You’re right, they are, and it’s interesting his we pass them on to our children without even being aware of it sometimes! Your documentary shows how easily we can be influenced by our expectations: the media knows all too well how to use this to their advantage…
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Hello there, this is my first try at the Two Cents Tuesday Challenge. Thank you for the challenge, and thank you, Madwoman of Ghost Harbor for turning me on to this! http://gracefulpress.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/desperate-times/
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The perfect poetic entry for the challenge – thanks so much!
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Really like the textural photo. Expectations for me…Hmmmmmm.. Let’s see. If I comment on a blog I admire repeatedly I “expect” an eventual reciprocation or response. This is unrealistic on a blog but I still feel expectation :)
I would have given up my seat too.
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That’s a fair enough reminder and expectation as well! I can’t seem to keep up with those who like/comment regularly, let alone those who follow and don’t comment at all! I guess that’s one of the things that gets lost in the fray of dealing with 2 grown children still at home, dog, aging parents, disposing of 30 years of unneeded possessions without just setting fire to everything, keeping a single-digit employee self-run company afloat, building websites, getting a new holistic product for dogs to market, writing lyrics for friends, drumming up participation in my city’s photographic community as it’s EyeEm Ambassador, doing some pro-bono work for a resource center, just to start the list and not even including blogging every day to avoid therapist’s fees. My expectations as a young adult were that I wouldn’t have to be doing any of this at this age but I am and I am grateful because it keeps my mind relatively sharp: it is also teaching me, oh so slowly, that the standards and expectations that I set for myself cannot always be upheld by others as much as I know that they are capable and even willing. So I settle for what I can: a smile, a kind word and a little love in a hard world where it seems we can’t give back enough. My sincere apologies to all whom I haven’t visited or spoken with regularly recently….
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WOW! Your schedule makes mine seem like a walk in the park! I removed all WP notifications until today because I was too stressed to answer and work and prepare to move. I also must go through 40 years of possessions, many part of collections that I want to keep but how do you move them ALL across an ocean? How on earth did you do it?
Word Press blogging also keeps my mind sharp and makes me feel connected to the world. My “expectation” of return responses was really tongue in cheek as we all have a life to live!
No apologies needed here EVER!
Kathryn
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Notifications are like a religion that makes you feel guilty at every turn, you try hard to be engaged but never feel like you are quite measuring up. I am still pretty much stuck in the middle of uncluttering – it isn’t easy when many things have emotional attachments but then I realize that they’re only mine and really not all that relevant to anyone else – One drawer at a time! Thanks for following btw…
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I have followed you for a long time! It’s my pleasure!
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:)
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Oh whew, this is week 2! I was afraid there was a new homework assignment.
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I was (and still am) still trying to slog my way through tomorrow’s post when the power went out… almost had to get that back-up hamster wheel generator out…
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Oh No, not the hamster–he’s not due back from vacation till mid-August, I heard!! On the flip-side, the power going out does afford you an enforced break, no? ‘Course, you work from home–so I’m not sure how that plays out….
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Hahaha – So not easy to try and post on wordpress from my phone… if it had been warm and gorgeous outside I would have been into the garden like a flash (rain, cold, fuzzy slippers, sweater). Even the dog is curled up…
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Drink something warm and inspiring. Oh, and here–have some peanut butter fudge.
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Fuuuudddggge…. There’s a nod to you in my Fiction in 50 this afternoon!
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Oh, yippee!
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Yum-yum!
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The fudge is going fast…just so ya know.
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I’ll have two fingers worth!
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But I thought that was a measurement of alcohol….
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It is! I want a piece as least as long as my index finger….
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Then we’re on the same page–I cut the end of the pan/brick, and just keep eating….
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:)
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