So Serious Saturday #16

Fiction needs a basis in reality. Exercising non-fiction muscles once in a while benefits an active imagination, channeling creative energies as it focuses on a subject. So Serious Saturdays will be an active place for critical essays or writing about reality in the context of real events - even when it is not written on Saturdays.

Type: Opinion/Philosophical

Setting an Example (For the Young Ones)

A boy walking in the street tugged on his dad’s hand and pointed at me as I rode by on my shiny steed. “Look! Look! She’s good,” he exclaimed.

My courteous smile at the dad grew larger as my ear caught his child’s comment. I whizzed past on my bicycle as though I were showing off. I thought about what he had seen: a young adult, semi-autonomous, alone, having both excellent control and blurring speed on two wheels. I know a younger me would have been impressed, too.

 My eyes flickered to the visor of my helmet. I was glad I had worn my helmet today, so that the boy had seen an older person actually wearing a helmet. I believe I had set a good example.

I pondered over this phrase, “to set an example.” It implies that observers are looking at a person who is providing a model way of doing something. Normally “to set an example” means to model good behavior to those who would mimic one’s behavior.

Young people especially learn by watching their elders. They remember and pattern their behavior after what they experience. If I were not wearing my helmet as I rode past the boy and his dad, would I be setting a bad example in bicycle safety?

And what about driving practices – if I forget to use my turn signal or if I stop on railroad tracks, isn’t that setting a bad example for student drivers? Will I perpetuate unsafe driving practices?

My thoughts turned to writing, a medium for mental influence. If I write in a sarcastic tone, am I not multiplying my bad attitude in the minds of tens, hundreds, thousands?

Perhaps I write an idea that is morally wrong, or that I know is false but which I masquerade as truth. The next day or so the work is taken, published, and read. The idea is entered into the mind of the readers, some of whom are young and impressionable, without much other experience of which to speak.

Now the present generation cannot fully understand how future generations will interpret their actions or define their words, nor can a writer account for psychopaths taking one of their ideas and twisting it in their own minds. However, a writer or an influencer of any age should take it upon themselves to be responsible for their behavior and speech.

One never knows what great and small eyes may be watching.