Selfish and Lazy

March 14, 2010

One of the central tenants to humanity, in my opinion anyway, is that we are all selfish and lazy.  If didn’t have to, we’d all stay in bed watching TV eating Doritos.

The only reason we don’t do that, at least some of us, is because to varying degrees we have some sort of work ethic or aspiration or desire to be more than we are instilled in us.  Even those that are “successful” still demonstrate these intrinsic behaviours of laziness and selfishness.

Let me cite some examples.  Yesterday, I was walking down the street on a very windy day.  Outside of my local coffee shop was a gentlemen desperately trying to suck back as much of his cigarette as quickly as possible before he got too wet or cold.  As he paced back and forth he walked around a garbage can that had been knocked over in the wind.  The garbage can belonged to the coffee shop which he was frequenting.   Only interested in his nicotine fit and not at all interested in expending any extra energy he did nothing to right the can.  In fact, no one who passed it on the sidewalk did anything either.

Other examples: 

• People who bud in line
• People who don’t signal when turning corners in their car or changing lanes on the freeway
• People that litter
• People that don’t hold the elevator
• Etc

In fact, in day to day life, you can find all sorts of examples of people’s behaviour that when you think about it can be explained by these two concepts.

It takes effort, work even, to participate in the world around us.  I suppose that is why it is called work.  Getting up in the morning is work, getting dressed is work, making dinner is work. It is far easier to order pizza than to make a nutritious meal – my goodness that might involve leaving the house to go to the store to buy vegetables!  Staying fit requires work for crying out loud!  As does holing the door for someone, buying flowers, being nice etc.

Life is hard work, get used to it.