Mette Lisby: Is It Just Me… November 2018

Who has noticed what is surely an alarming discrepancy within each and every one of us?

I am guilty of it, everyone I know is guilty of it, and I am pretty sure you are too. In fact,I am also pretty sure you will recognise the following scenario all too well. My Facebook and Twitter feeds are over-flowing with posts and memes of love and understanding: Save the planet; Save the world; Help each other; Please donate to my birthday fundraiser for a rescue dog shelter; #bekind.

Each of these little posts blasts of triumph of the human spirit and generosity in a way that leaves me warm and fuzzy inside like I had just mentally had a cup of warm cocoa. Obviously, getting this great feeling from being on Facebook requires that you skip the posts from your annoyingly perfect friends and their annoyingly perfect meals(they eat a lot for being that skinny, don’t they?), but if I focus on the heart-warming videos and the overall sentiment, it leaves me feeling very good about humankind.

Then I leave my house. I get in my car and I go out in traffic. This is a completely different experience. Here, I see people yelling at each other, impatiently honking if they have to wait two seconds for someone to move. People cutting in and out in front of you, changing lanes, oblivious to the nuisance they apply to others and unreasonably furious when someone brings it to their attention. People furiously rolling down their windows throwing rude hand signs at others like a rap vid-eo gone mad.

What is making us all so angry? Where did these intolerant, spiteful, short-fused bastards even come from? It is the same people who were just on Facebook half an hour ago spreading loving messages, which is what I find so mind-boggling.It is not just the startling anger; it is also the staggering intolerance, impatience with others and plain rudeness that, to be honest, I think each of us has been guilty of one time or another in traffic. And then, of course,there is the grave ignorance that is every bit as dangerous: people who move around in traffic while staring at their phones. But, who knows? Maybe they are on Facebook or Twitter desperate to restore their faith in humanity after having to deal with other people in traffic.

TEXT AND PHOTO: METTE LISBY

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Scan Magazine Ltd.’