There is a social protocol that should exist, call it chivalry, call it manners, call it being a normal self aware human being, but there is a social protocol that should exist. The key to this statement is the hinge word SHOULD. Because the thing about SHOULD, is that it implies that there is another option out there, and that is in fact the case.
For what seems like an eternity, I have long been fighting an uphill battle in the kitchen at work. More to the point, an uphill battle at the water cooler. There are many people in the office I work in, upwards of 20-30 on any given day. With that many people filling variously sized water bottles and thermoses, inevitably the water cooler gets emptied and needs to be refilled. Now, social protocol SHOULD dictate that if you empty the cooler, you should replace the cooler. The other, and more popular option, is to walk away and let someone else deal with it. There was a tipping point several months ago, when I happened to be in the kitchen washing a dish at the same time as a group of labourers were in the kitchen. One guy was filling his water bottle when I heard him say "the water jug is empty." When I turned around, I realized he had walked out of the kitchen, down the hall to the other water cooler to finish filling his water bottle, leaving the water cooler in the kitchen bone dry. I know this is such a small thing in the grand scheme of life, but honest to god, it makes me bat shit crazy!! (sidebar: who was the first one to look at bat guano and say "well that's crazy?") It makes me so crazy that I think I am now secretly called "water cooler nazi" behind my back. In all fairness they could call me that to my face because I know I have some serious issues with the water cooler.
The thing is its not just a water cooler. Well it is a water cooler, but its a metaphor. Its the sad state of a societal back slide that runs the gambit from texting in meetings, ignoring the facilitator to letting the door slam in someone's face (and we all know how I feel about that). I don't mean to harp people, because I believe that the human race is not totally a waste of time, and I believe in hope for our future. I just wish that we could all take a moment to reflect on the fact that we are not the only ones in the whole world. If you empty the coffee pot at work, make another pot, if you see someone struggling with a bunch of boxes etc, help them, if you can safely change lanes in traffic to allow someone to merge, do it. These are simple things that will not cost you anything but time, and will make this world we live in, a better place. We are all in this together, please don't loose sight of that and for the love of all things good and holy in this world, if you use up the last of the water in the water cooler jug, change the damned thing!!
Cheers,
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