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07-31-02, 12:16 PM
I am in denial. I realized this when I began this thread.
I started out building my case defining "denial" as a sort of blindness one has about one's own problems. I even used some examples of people "in denial," such as drug addicts, alcoholics and mothers-in-law. Then, just as I was about to spring my trap, claiming that the "motoring public" was also a group that was "in denial" about their problem, I realized it was me. I am "the motoring public." Hence, I was in denial, talking about the "motoring public" as if I were not a part of their group.
Alas, people who live in glass houses spend way too much time washing windows. Anyway, now that I've confessed, "I am a motorist in denial," I can safely diagnose the problem without hypocrisy.
The motoring public (of which I am a part) is in denial about the negative impact of their addiction.
Here is a glaring example, which is pretty much what I heard on the radio recently:
"Traffic today on (such and such street) is backed up due to an accident with injuries. It'll be a while before it gets moving again, you might want to take an alternate route." No mention of the injured people, all the emphasis on the inconvenience to motorists who are in a big damn hurry. The announcer even broke into a giggle at some point later, obviously having forgotten about the seriousness of the "accident with injuries," while she tried to be jovial about the traffic jam as if she were smiling through the adversity.
Denial. Scary.
I started out building my case defining "denial" as a sort of blindness one has about one's own problems. I even used some examples of people "in denial," such as drug addicts, alcoholics and mothers-in-law. Then, just as I was about to spring my trap, claiming that the "motoring public" was also a group that was "in denial" about their problem, I realized it was me. I am "the motoring public." Hence, I was in denial, talking about the "motoring public" as if I were not a part of their group.
Alas, people who live in glass houses spend way too much time washing windows. Anyway, now that I've confessed, "I am a motorist in denial," I can safely diagnose the problem without hypocrisy.
The motoring public (of which I am a part) is in denial about the negative impact of their addiction.
Here is a glaring example, which is pretty much what I heard on the radio recently:
"Traffic today on (such and such street) is backed up due to an accident with injuries. It'll be a while before it gets moving again, you might want to take an alternate route." No mention of the injured people, all the emphasis on the inconvenience to motorists who are in a big damn hurry. The announcer even broke into a giggle at some point later, obviously having forgotten about the seriousness of the "accident with injuries," while she tried to be jovial about the traffic jam as if she were smiling through the adversity.
Denial. Scary.