Risk and Foresight

The route I take to enter my office building takes me down a hallway dominated by a Montessori pre-school. I mention that it's a Montessori school because those tend to be selected by parents who recognize that the level and quality of thinking provided by the public school system is inadequate.

There's a bulletin board in the hallway. On that board they put notices. One of the notices, not too long ago, was a request that parents not park in the fire lane when dropping off their children (which they do by accompanying their child inside, so it's not an "I'm stopped, run on out, Junior" situation.)

Think about this ... for the sake of a few seconds of convenience, these parents elected to set a precedent of parking in the fire lane. Fire lanes are areas set aside for emergency crews in the case of, for instance, fire. Parking in fire lanes increases the risk that the students in the school will be harmed or die. Their own parents did this.

Be aware of what actions you may be doing carelessly or frivolously that, when done by other people or larger numbers of people, might increase risk to you and those you value. Take particular care in what you teach those who look to you for their example of how to behave.