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I for one find great comfort in mindless routine. Why rethink the way I
brush my teeth? Or tie my shoes? As long as when a better way
comes along, I'm open-minded enough to give it a shot.
Trouble is, no matter how hard I try to keep an open mind, I keep sliding lazily back in
to routine. And worse, I automatically resent deviation by anyone else. The other guy
gliding through a stop sign. The clown with 13 items in the
12-item express lane.
In the park where I walk. people parallel park along the curb surrounding a grassy area.
It's the way it's always been done, the way it's supposed to be done. Early one Sunday
morning, the first car to arrive pulled up to the curb nose first and parked. "Who
does this guy think he is," I thought. The license plates explained it all...
"Iowa."
"But wait," I scolded myself. "He's on to something. This is off the
street. There's plenty of room. And if everybody parked this way, we could fit three times
as many cars in this area!" So I pulled in, nose first, right along side.
It's that first knee-jerk rejection of the unfamiliar you have to
watch out for. Especially if you're in charge. Because once you've committed yourself to
rejecting an idea, it's twice as hard to turn around and accept it.
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