Back to Article index To print this page, click on the Print icon in your browser.   What Were They Thinking!?   Most of you have either heard about the floods we had in Las Vegas last month or were "caught" in the tempest. They are calling it the "storm of a hundred years." Most of us who've lived in Las Vegas for any length of time have never seen anything like it. The closest we've come, until now, was view other disasters on the nightly news.   The day started like most – get up, move through the morning routine and step into the day. Clouds in the sky are not worrisome on most mornings. So, like any other summer morning, I stepped into my day and into my car. I made my appointment on time and while I was there noticed it had begun to rain. Not an unusual event so, giving it little thought, when my business was completed, I left to return home, normally a ten-minute drive.   After wading through mid-calf deep water in the parking lot I thought, "This is not a big deal. Just bad drainage in this lot." I drove my car to the exit and saw it wasn't a drainage problem. Traffic was backed up for what looked like miles. The roads had turned to rivers. The rain was still coming down, orchestrated to the music of the thunder and the illumination of lightening from the heavens.   Given I have some common sense, I decided to park in the lot and wait for the time I could make it home safely. Then I watched the show.   As spectacular as the thunder and lightening were, I was most caught up in the antics of the human players in front of me and I found myself saying, "What are you thinking?" over and over as I remained part of the audience to the drama before me.   I continued to see drivers act as if there was nothing different about driving that morning. They continued to speed along without regard to the water that reached the floor of their cars, if not higher. The driver of one car apparently thought the laws governing the mechanics of automobiles didn't apply and sped along at the normal speed limit, about fifty miles per hour. You guessed it. The car stalled. The driver, a woman, got out of her car and seemed totally astounded her car had stalled and she was now standing hip-deep in water.   I don't claim to be an expert in driving under dangerous conditions or during inclement weather. I am an expert at driving when conditions are perfect. So maybe people like this woman know something I don't. However, it is my guess she, like many, did not use the commodity seemingly in short supply these days: Common sense.   This is not the first time I've written about common sense. I think I was just so overwhelmed with what appeared to be such stupid behavior in front of me as I sat in the parking lot waiting for a lull in the raging tides. And I do trust we are all doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing at any given moment. I just don't get it some times.   It was brought home to me even further when I was standing in line at the grocery store two days later. The woman behind me was complaining about her job. (My thought, "If you're not happy in your work, find something else.") That wasn't the amazing part of it to me, though, because I know there are a lot of people working many jobs who are unhappy and needing support in making the change to something new; I was one of them once. What got me was when she told me she'd taken the position as a cocktail waitress at a pool and then was surprised it was such hot work! I said, "This is Las Vegas. It gets to be 125 degrees some days. Is it cooler by a pool than everywhere else in the valley?" Her response was, "I just didn't think about it!" We chatted a little more while in line. Then I walked away in amazement. Sometimes I really don't get what people are thinking!   So why am I bothering to write this? It just seems we've forgotten the whole concept of common sense. We have the skill innately and forget to engage it. I don't know what makes common sense so rare, I just know it is. Have we gotten so lazy we go for the first thing that comes to mind? Have we forgotten how to use our brains? Are we so angry and confused those emotions dominate our thoughts and common sense can't find a way in?   I've made my share of "stupid" decisions, too. None of us is immune to it. However, there is a difference between making poor decisions and not engaging your common sense.   I used to think common sense couldn't be taught. I still think that's true. I also know, however, if you slow down in your life, remove the clutter from your mind and stop whatever emotional cycles of rage, anger, hostility, frustration and overwhelm you're living, you can come back to that place where your inner wisdom, your common sense, can be heard.   Don't be one of those drivers caught in a flood and wondering what happened. Don't get caught in your life and be wondering how you got there.     © Copyright August, 1999. Laura Hess, MCC 702.252.3657