Out of Our Element
Once upon a time manners were so important that people who rarely attended formal affairs feared they would commit a major social faux pas by using the wrong fork or spoon. On those occasions they felt “out of their element.” I don’t know if my Granny ever worried about that. She kept her silverware in a mason jar in the middle of the table.
Ray and I had a few out-of-our-element experiences several weeks ago when we were trying to navigate toll booths out of state. We have driven many toll roads in our day. We used Kentucky toll roads regularly in our early married life when we traveled often between Lexington, Kentucky, and our parents’ homes in Ashland City and Columbia, Tennessee.
We both remember well the weekend we spent our cash down so low that we didn’t have the $1.20 we needed to get back home. They were cash-only deals–no paying with a credit card back then. In fact, the only cards we had were ones from Sears and one from Gulf Oil anyway. We took a longer backroads route and didn’t have to borrow from our folks.
Still, toll roads are a bit of a novelty for us. Neither of us can think of a single one in Tennessee.
So, back to our difficulty and the toll booth attendant who helped us out . . .
We had already made some drivers behind us upset by being unsure which lane to use at a previous toll booth. We both had read the signs but we just couldn’t see how we fit into any of those categories exactly.
At this our third difficult juncture, Ray pulled up to an attended booth and said, “I don’t know what to do.” The friendly attendant replied in a heavy accent, “Very simple — you give me money; I let you go.”
It is easy sometimes to challenge, condemn, criticize, question, and be frustrated with people who don’t seem to “get it.” Sometimes those people are simply out of their element. It might be someone who is socially inexperienced. It might be an old person who isn’t thinking like they once did. It might be a child who hasn’t matured in a certain area yet.
We may be thinking, “Very simple . . .” They might be thinking something else entirely.
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly,
encourage the fainthearted, help the weak,
be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14
So funny!…And how I relate! On top of having too many options as I approach the toll booth, I marvel at the fact that I’m expected to read all 6-8 signs as I’m approaching at highway speeds. I consider myself a pretty good multi-tasker, but this is ridiculous!:-)
You described it to a T!