I Broke Up a Line Today...

I pulled into my local recycling center today, or rather tried to. My initial attempt was blocked by a line of about eight vehicles, just sitting patiently, waiting to pull forward. I peered around and noticed that there was a truck with a camper on it stopped in front of the trash compactors for household garbage. Beyond that, however, was the recepticles for mingled recyclables and mixed paper. There is a space between the industrial sized bins for commingled recyclables and mixed paper large enough for a car to nestle in between. But there wasn't a car there. Everyone in line appeared to be waiting to use the trash compactors for household garbage.

So I pulled around and parked in between the bins for commingled recyclables and mixed paper. And suddenly, as if a spell had been broken, the vehicles waiting in line scattered forward, pulling around the stopped camper, and actually walking a few feet to throw their garbage away instead of waiting idly to pull up flush with the trash compactor before unloading.

I brought a new perspective to the situation. I wonder if it even occurred to anyone else to pull around, to walk before I got there. I'm not saying I'm any smarter than those people, but a line has a certain kind of authority in our society. It's very bad manners to break in line. But in this case, breaking in line didn't mean that I procured a good and/or service before anyone else. It simply meant I had to walk farther to get rid of my trash. And, there was plenty of places to go in front of the line. It's just that the line, once formed, held sway.

That's what it's all about, really. Perspective building. Perspective breaking. So get out there. Read a book. Read a blog. Read a tweet. Have a conversation. Send an e-mail. Talk to somebody new.  Join the human conversation. Learn some new perspectives and maybe break up a line every once in a while.

That is all.