This is officially my first blog. I downloaded an application to upload my thoughts through MS Word, so I did send a few "hello world" tests though. But this is my official first thought.
So, I'll start off with some light thinking. Either this has been something I've been thinking all day about, and I was feeling the need to share my thoughts with someone, or I am procrastinating writing my psychology paper. Take your pick. (The paper is due today at 8:00 pm; it's about 2:00 am now. Maybe I should go to sleep, eh?)
Alright, well I've been thinking about those weird awkward situations that occur, and you simply have no idea what the right thing to do is. Let me explain though an example.
I was at school one night, attending one of my Microsoft Excel college course classes, and I felt the familiar urge to use the restroom. You see, I have a go to a small college. Well, actually it's pretty big, because it's based out of Boston, but the campus in my city is relatively small to the other education establishments in the area. Why, even the restrooms are small, with only one stall per gender per floor! I should not be described as a stall, more than just a room. So, at this point in the story, I am headed to the lavatory.
Of course, I do not want to barge in when someone is doing their business. The right thing to do is to knock.
I am sure you have been in this situation. I have knocked on latrine doors for as long as I can remember, and for a considerable percent that I perform, there is no one inside. For some reason, I am always the one utilizing the restroom when someone else is knocking to get it. I've always wondered what the right thing to say though the door whilst I'm dropping the kids off at the pool. Could it be: "Someone is in here!" Seems kind of useless, because the moment I say one syllable, they know it is occupied. Could I possible say: "What do you want?" which is equally useless, because I know what they want.
Do you make some sort of noise? Like a cough, or bodily function? You certainly can't ignore it. Would you ask them to kindly wait? What if you ask them for a rain check? Tell them you don't want solicitors? The bathroom is currently out of order? Out of the entire list of crazy thing you can respond though the bathroom door, (I'm getting back to my story now) the response I received though the bathroom door was most unusual.
"Come in!"
I mentioned before, the reason why I knocked on the latrine door was to not enter while another individual was in there. I was shocked and completely taken by surprise by my response that I froze. A million thoughts ran through my head, like "is it too late to run?" "I can use the latrine on the other floor." Going into the bathroom while someone else was in there was not on my list of recovering my shaken status. The teacher (of all people) finally exited, and I allowed myself to enter the library to finish what I headed there for.
That was an awkward situation for me. Would you go in? It's similar to another situation I was in while driving to work. I typically drive slightly faster than the speed limit, when I caught up to a police car. We were both in the passing lane, and when I caught up to him, he changed lanes into the "non-passing" lane. Obviously he knew I was going faster than the speed limit, and I would have to again to pass him… would you pass a cop?
No, I didn't. He eventually took a side street, and I arrived at my destination ahead of schedule without a speeding ticket.
