Don't judge me...

Could it be possible that our perceptions based on our own value system are not always appropriate or informed?

Many years ago I learned to tell myself, "I will not 'should' on myself today." It meant something very similar to how it sounded.

How many times do each of us ruin our own days by concentrating on what "should" have occurred? Each individual has the ability, if they have the desire, to reconsider these actions against them self and create a more positive internal environment. Yes, it's all in your head!

My problem came in when it was a co-worker whose internal value system "should" on me!

What was happening was stressful enough without the additional pressure of knowing my own co-worker was judging what I was doing that day without even considering the external reasons - things out of my control!

You see, it is true that every driver should leave the Transit Center at the exact time they are scheduled to leave. For most routes that is on the hour and the half hour. We are all equipped with a clock set to the second so that we can accomplish this feat. On occasion a clock is off and then it gets a little crazy, but overall the clocks are identical down to the second based on the atomic clock that updates every clock in every bus and every office at the same time.

There are times that it is just not possible to accomplish this, no matter how much one wants to or intends to. There are passenger issues, traffic issues and bus issues that can influence that. There are also, at times, personal issues - like not being off the bus for four hours and the bladder is screaming - that can also create a glitch in the system. IT happens! And, at one time or another, it happens to all of us.

Recently I was driving a route that was so slow because of the decrease in passenger load that I could leave at the :02 and :32 and still wait at the time spot midway through. I chose to leave at the :02 and :32 to allow passengers running a little behind to catch my route and get to their destination more efficiently. It made sense to me to wait the two minutes allowed at the TC for customer service.

Unfortunately my co-worker did not see it quite that way. He was, apparently, angered by the fact that I was not leaving at :01:00 and :31:00 and was upset enough by this to go to management. My management did not see it as an issue - at least that is what I was lead to believe as I was never spoken with about said issue. This, from what I was told, only managed to upset my co-worker further.

All I can say is this, getting upset over something so simple and out of his control wasn't good for his health and when he told me about it, it wasn't good for my attitude!

What is the reason that people cannot accept that they are NOT in control of others? I can control myself. I can control my children to an extent, but any parent knows it isn't easy and kids will do what they want! All I can do is teach them and hope they listen.

Controlling other adults - or attempting to - results in nothing but problems. The ONLY person anyone can control is them self.

That being said - DON'T JUDGE ME!

I am doing the best I can and there are reasons I choose to do what I choose to do and choose not to do other things. If someone else is upset by my choices, then they can ask me about WHY or tell me they did not appreciate my choices, but calling names and judging is not the way to handle it, in my opinion!

Stop "should"ing on yourself and others and make it a better world!