Crossing Expectations

I am a people watcher. Like most things, people tend to annoy me when I am focused on a specific activity and they are in my way. Even their very breathing seems to interfere with my ability to complete my task. However, if I take the time to stop and pay attention to them as living, sentient beings rather than obstacles, I often find myself entertained, amused, or even sympathetic toward them. I see their humanity. And even if I still notice them perpetrating incorrigible acts, I am often more tolerant or, at the very least, less agitated by their behavior. This may have no direct affect on them, but I feel certain that it encourages me to be less hostile toward them, which must indirectly make things better for them in some small way.

My new job as a crossing guard has given me a superb opportunity to observe people. In fact, one might say that this is my primary function. I watch people trying to cross the road, and I watch people driving cars/riding bikes down that same road. I always have to be alert and watching. And I admit that I was shocked by people's behavior during my first week on the job. But not in the way you might imagine.

You see, I tend to think of people, Americans especially, as self-centered automatons that will do anything to make their own lives better or more convenient while ignoring everything and everybody who will not further that end. Oh sure, people pay superficial lip-service to caring about others. We watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," we donate money to Habitat for Humanity, and we experience moments of sadness when we see some tragedy on the news. This makes us feel better about ourselves. And if a life-threatening situation arose, I truly believe that many of us actually would sacrifice ourselves to save someone else. Nonetheless, these general truths do not change the fact that on a day-to-day basis in a thousand little ways, we slight and belittle our fellow human beings while we strive to build lives of increasing isolation and personal luxury.

But perhaps I might have to revise this estimate somewhat. As a crossing guard, I am a public servant. I expected people to take me for granted, some seeing me merely as a necessary machine that enables them to get where they have to go but possessing no life of its own, and some as an annoying impediment in their progress down the road, something to be put up with for a few seconds before pressing down violently on the gas pedal with an irritated glare. On the contrary, most people are polite and respectful. They acknowledge me as a person and express their gratitude at my assistance, although sometimes this takes the form of trying to engage me in conversation, thereby inhibiting my ability to be as watchful as I need to be. Still, they mean well. Even the drivers usually show far more respect and patience than I anticipated. To be sure, some of them are motivated solely by a personal desire to be a good role model to their children - not because they actually care about me - but that desire in and of itself is a positive thing. It shows that they possess the right instincts, even if they do not always practice or consciously recognize them.

And the children are even better. They wait patiently at the curb, look me in the face as they pass, and almost always say, "Thank you." I had really not expected such courtesy and politeness. I suppose they are young enough that they still obediently follow their parents' orders and utter these words out of habit. And I suppose my orange vest and association with "School" makes me an unquestionable authority figure in their minds. Not to mention that my height of 6'4" must make me appear awesome to individuals who seldom exceed 3' themselves. Nevertheless, this has been a pleasant surprise.

That is not to say that some people have not reacted exactly as I expected, or worse. But for the moment, I'd prefer to allow my faith in humanity to expand a bit, so I will address these exceptions at a later date.