I think that most states, if not all, have a law regarding cell phone usage while driving. And they should.  However, the irony of restricted cell phone usage while driving is an interesting one.

As I am travelling through various states this month, I am struck by the variety of signs that tell us to not use our phones.  That there are fines associated with the usage. That is is against the law to use them.  All good reminders to what we should already know.  However…… can someone please help me understand why it is you can be driving on the same road that warns you against cell phone usage while driving but asks you to call #77 to report an aggressive driver?  How does that work? Wait until I reach my destination to report such driver? By then, his road rage is probably over.  And should I call #77 and ask first if I will get a ticket for calling to report this driver?  Come on!  Of course, I am sure they “mean” pull over and call for help – but that is NOT what the sign says. Nor is it usually an option to get to the shoulder to place such a call. Or how about the highway sign that says, no parking on the shoulder – car will be towed.  Well – my guess is that if you are “parking” on the shoulder, that you have car trouble – so, yes, tow my car, please and thank you!

This is just a small example of the kind of communicators that we are today.  We should all take a course in technical writing. You know, the step by step, information type writing.  Thinking through what we actually do in order to actually do it.  And, no, I realize  that won’t work on road signs, I am just rambling.

We live in a society that says one thing and means another – we are not people of our word.  We often feel no remorse in not following through.We make promises that we don’t keep – mostly because it is easier to say we will do it then to say we won’t. It seems we could care less if people are inconvenienced when we don’t do our part or when we change our story to meet our own needs. Ahhhhh – now we are on to something…. meet our own needs. That old “sense of entitlement”.

Man that is running rampant today.  From little kids to adults.  Or maybe, we are all kids… at least emotionally.  Me, Me, Me – remember that stage? Hard to forget if you are still in it – ouch!

The point here is that we are a confusing folk.  We confuse our children, we confuse our employers, we confuse our friends. I am confused…. why do we want to live life this way?  Why don’t we want to speak the truth?  The truth will lead to less complication – really it will.

Now – it is often more time consuming to speak the truth.  Why is that?  Because feelings are involved.  And because we have to practice speaking the truth, since we don’t do it often.  We can’t just spew truth out – we aren’t ready for that!  You need to think before you speak, you need to be cognisant of the other person’s feelings. You need to be sure that what truth you are sharing is actually helpful to the situation. Don’t confuse truth with “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”.  There is a time and a place for that statement, but speaking truth is entirely different.  The ability to speak the truth comes from relationship.  It comes from respect.  It comes from love.  And love demands truth. And truth deserves follow through.
Let’s talk more about this next time….