What About the Other Guy?

 “Treat men exactly as you would like them to treat you.”

Luke 6:31 (Phillips)

Every Saturday, I (try to) go to a local park to walk their 1.25 mile trail through the woods.  It is great exercise, because the path follows the natural incline/decline of the forest floor, giving the walker/runner/cyclist a "hills and valleys" workout.  There are a multitude of "rules" posted at the beginning  and ending of the trail:  dogs must be on a leash; bicycles on the left; walkers on the right; only official vehicles on the trail (golf carts used by the rangers), park only in lined spaces, etc.  Too often, however, you run into someone who believes that those rules are for other people.

There are three picnic shelters along the path - two at the beginning of the trail, and one near the end.  There is also a very tiny parking lot in front of the nature center that begins/ends the trail.  On busy days, you may have to park a ways away in the lots by the ball fields.  Fortunately, there were a few parking spaces left when I arrived.  Strangely, even before I got out of my car, my ears were assaulted by music blaring with the amplification of an open-air rock concert.

I started down the trail, only to find my way blocked in the area around Shelter #1.  There was a big party being set up, and cars/trucks had been driven down to the area and parked on the trail to offload food that could have easily been carried in. The music was also coming from a large speaker set up by the shelter, and I'm sure the volume was as maxed-out as possible.  Well over a quarter mile further down the trail, I could still hear the tunes loud and clear.  The poor people in Shelter #2 must have had a hard time hearing each other talk.

I finished my 2.5 miles and headed for the parking lot, where I discovered the third result of the "all about me" party crowd.  Every available parking space in the small lot was taken, so the incoming families simply started making spaces of their own, effectively blocking the exit of anyone parked down at the far end of the lot.  I had parked by the nature center and was able to make a quick exit, edging by a pickup truck/trailer rig that was trying to gain entrance. Others of the exercise crowd were not so lucky, painstakingly maneuvering to try and inch their way out.

There are probably few people in the United States who do not know these famous words spoken by Jesus -  words that we teach our children as the Golden Rule of human behavior: give other people the same courtesy and respect that you hope they will give to you.  There is no guarantee, of course, that your attitude will be reciprocated, because it is much easier to take the route of putting myself first at the inconvenience of everyone else.  However, stopping to think about the consequences of our choices on those around us is a great step in the right direction for living by the Golden Rule.