Common Sense

Have you ever noticed how common sense really isn't so common to some people? Seriously. I've noticed it more and more the older I get. Moreso this past year. I really don't claim to know everything about life, but I would say I'm pretty smart. Not the smartest in the class, but I'm up there with the best of them. Still, some of the things I've witnessed as of late just seem as simple and well... common, as knowing that grass is green and dogs bark.

For example, my roommate called me up one day to ask if a phone number was long distance. (I don't have a good long distance plan on my home phone, so it costs like 25 cents a minute or something outrageous like that.) I told her to call me anytime if she didn't know if an area code was a local number. (We have two or three area codes that are consider local in Orange County). So I get a phone call from her one day wanting to know if a number was local or if it was long distance and would costs her money to call from the landline. "Ok," I say, "what's the number?" She replies with, "I-800-something, something, something." I immediately stopped listening after I heard "1-800". For a moment I thought she was kidding, but no. She was serious. With a confused yet annoyed look on my face, I said, "No, it's free. Anything beginning with 800 or 888, or sometimes even 877 are all free." She had not known this until now... and she'll be 30 next month!!!

Another thing that I guess is not so common to some people is that when you're cooking and you have to open a can that has a pop-top lid, there is no reason to use the can opener!!

Have you ever called someone up and prefaced the conversation with "I'm just calling to complain"? If someone told you that, do you think they really are calling for advice, defense, or an arguement?? No. They just need you to listen. Especially if they already told you at the beginning of the conversation that the only reason they called was to complain. Translation: They just need to vent! No words necessary, really, except to maybe throw in a "I can only imagine how it made you feel" or "that must really stink". Just a little affirmation. But seriously, don't start trying to defend the reason why they called to complain! Don't try to help them see the other side of things. It's not the time right then. That's only going to make things worse!! Just listen. That's all. Listen.

Water is not free. Yes, we pay for water people. Don't ask me why we have a water bill. We just do. So, the more loads of laundry you do, the more dishes we wash, the more frequently you take showers, the higher the water bill is going to be. So if it jumped in price all the sudden, don't assume we must have a leak somewhere in a pipe. You probably just ran the water more!

*seriously starting to roll my eyes at this point*

If someone is trying to walk away from you while you're talking, they obviously want to end the conversation. They don't want you to follow them. Leave them alone!

Common sense is not so common to some people. I hate the thought of having to assume everyone is dumb, but I think it might be coming to that point. Am I just more "grown-up" than my friends? Maybe so. But really, I don't think that some of these things take that much brain power to figure out. Don't be "one of them."