This past Wednesday - my car was hit.
It wasn’t anything serious. I noticed a note stuck in my wipers as I was about to leave campus for the day, and after reading the note and circling my car a few times I STILL have no idea where my car was hit.
However, there was something else that happened before I found the note that didn’t bother me at first – but once I found the note all the pieces clicked in my head.
The North Campus at University of Buffalo is large enough to have its own zipcode – and that’s not including the parking lots. Naturally, after walking 20 minutes back to my car I couldn’t remember exactly where I left it. From far off I saw two cars that looked similar to mine, and as I walked closer - I noticed an older white man in his 40s circling one of the cars. At first I figured he was also confused and wasn’t sure which car was his… but he was circling it far more than I would. Not to mention I realized I recognized the license plate because it was my car. I was about to shout out “Um can I help you?” but when he noticed me he awkwardly walked away.
Several thoughts went through my head:
-Maybe he was scoping out my car to find something to steal?
-Maybe he was trying to find a good place to strap a bomb to my car?
-Maybe he saw a cat run under my car and was trying to save it?
It wasn’t until after I received the note I realized: He was just being nosy.
He wasn’t the author of the note, because the author seemed incredibly apologetic and didn’t seem to have very good English writing skills. He didn’t fit any of these characteristics – plus he didn’t even have a car. He was just taking a walk (I watched him walk away for a good long while since he was acting so weird).
My observations lead me to believe he was just taking a walk, saw a note on someone’s car, and was trying to figure out where my car had been hit. How he planned to deduce where the supposed dent was without knowing my car’s history - I have no idea.
But the same can be said of people’s lives.
Our culture is so obsessed with drama. Often times we just want to see the aftermath rather than walk alongside people to help alleviate the pain in their lives. It would have been one thing if that guy had approached me to see if I needed any help or let me know “Hey, I saw it happen but it was just a little tap so don’t get worried!” The thing is… he didn’t do any of that.
There's a difference between being nosy and being genuinely concerned about someone else. One objectifies someone by their problems, and the other is an attempt to bring a little more light to the world.
Which one will you choose to be today?
