I know that many, perhaps most, people are terrified of making a decision or taking individual action. I’ve seen it over and over again when it came to acts that would . But seriously–how dependent have we become on “authorities” literally making the most basic decisions for us?
Yesterday I watched a young woman (20 something) face a terrible dilemma–what to do when a tiny fire had started against her home.
There was some fresh mulch laid down right next to the walkway and wall into her house, of which a small portion was smoldering. As she stood there, with cellphone in hand, calling 911, the wind whipped it enough to get some flames started. She just stood there, talking to a dispatcher.
I walked our with my half-empty coffee cup and put the flames out. Right after that a neighbor came over with a pitcher of water and soaked it well enough that we were pretty sure the threat was gone.
She seemed perplexed by our simply killing the tiny fire, rather than waiting for the firefighters. They came by about 10 minutes later and made sure everything was stable.
Modern folks–literally incapable of cleaning themselves.