Recently, while at the grocery store, where I feel like I’m in some sort of weird video game in which I have to carefully avoid destruction from hidden dangers, I went the wrong direction of the instructional aisle arrows.
I quickly turned around for the safety of myself and other shoppers trying to accomplish the same necessary task during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From that point on, I focused on being particularly mindful of going in the right direction. Not all shoppers did the same. Some paid the arrows no mind at all.
It became frustrating and got me to thinking, if everyone would just go in the right direction, we could all accomplish things much faster. But then I wondered, absent of the giant arrows pointing out the direction, how does each person determine what is right and what is wrong? What are those decisions based on?
What I think is right, clearly is not what everyone else thinks is right. (And, I’m not talking about the laws that we are obliged to follow.)
Are there absolutes that we can all agree are the right things to do—no matter our religion, political affiliation, upbringing?
Are the things that you could list as absolutely “right?” Do those things match what your friends, family, coworkers would say? Does it matter if they don’t? Does your relationship depend upon it? Should it?
Can we disagree on what is right and still have a civil, productive conversation and treat each other with respect?
Just some things I’m thinking about, reflecting on and filtering through art.
