“When I ask you about something that you believe in — whether you believe or don’t believe in climate change or whether you believe in some political position or other — as soon as I raise the question why, you have answers. Reasons come to your mind. But the reasons may have very little to do with the real causes of your beliefs. And we take the reasons that people give for their actions and beliefs and our own reasons for our actions and beliefs much too seriously.”
—— Daniel Kahneman
—————————————————–
I don’t share my personal beliefs with passengers.
At least, not directly. When I respond to their questions, I might say something or ask a question that reveals hints of my own. But I have made it a rule for myself to keep it all about them. It helps remind me that I’m working.
Is this still selfish?
I wonder.
It’s ok if it is.
On some days, this is a bit harder than others.
——
Yesterday during the early part of my run, I had just two on board for the last forty-five minutes or so. One was a woman (near my age) who is a regular passenger and the other, a younger man I’d never transported before.
They had been chatting for a while, and the topics had been general. Traffic, the weather… I was making verbal contributions to show I was listening but not really getting involved. Then they started on how the weather has been so very crazy lately and the younger man decided to take it a bit farther.
“Crazy cold! Yea sistah? Like I neva seen befoa. Maybe there’s someting to dis climate change afta all. I mean, I’m getting out my jackets now. I no rememba eva doing l’dat.”
“Well, I remember it being really cold before. When I was a little girl on Maui, I remember it being so cold we needed jackets this time of year. I don’t think it’s like what some people say… not the big emergency they try and make it out to be. They’re just trying to control us.”
I decided to say something but keep as much to raw information mode as possible.
“From what I understand, general warming has affected the polar regions of the planet so that this vortex of cold air has moved further south than ever before.”
I know from many previous conversations that, although this woman’s default position is the polar opposite of my own, she is kind and generous and truly wants to be helpful. I didn’t want her to feel I was challenging her (even though I was) so I changed the focus of the subject.
“But what really is an undeniable and immediate problem, is plastic pollution.”
“You said it bruddah. I see da kine, plastic crap all oba da beach. Every day brah. Fish all mahkeh. Make me sick. People no kea, das why.”
“Yes (she agreed) I try and use as little plastic as I can.”
I decide to go for a little challenge.
“And it’s the oil industry that brought us all this plastic. By flooding our world with single-use plastic everything, they helped to create this whole throw-away, never-ending consumption culture that we are now having to clean up after. They need to be regulated big time.”
But my nice regular passenger would be having none of this. She simply continued on with how the government is trying to control everything we do and then, when she somehow switched to the topic of “gay marriage”, the younger man joined in.
He agreed with her completely that gay people should “be allowed” to live their lives as they like and…
“Even if I disagree wit dem, it da Christian ting ta do. I shouldn’t judge. Only God can judge. It’s in The Bible, das why.”
The younger man got off at his stop. All in agreement with the woman.
“We all good Christians after all, yea?”
I continued my silence (since the topic of marriage equality) but on the way to her house I made one last small challenge for her to contemplate. I’ve often heard this woman talk of how much she doesn’t judge others.
“The Bible says being gay is a sin right?”
“Yes, it does but only God can judge.”
“But how do you know what God’s judgement is? The Bible has been the way to do that, correct? It’s what Christians use to know how to live since it is the word of God.”
“Yes, but… ”
“And The Bible says it’s a sin to be gay.”
“Yes, it does… I think this is a topic for a longer conversation Brian.”
“Indeed. But we have lots of time, don’t we?”
“Yes, we do. See you tomorrow.”
“Until then… ”
——
Blessed…
m(___)m
