Uncommon Sense

One of my grand-uncles used to say that common sense is most uncommon. And while he only used to gently direct this at his beloved better-half, hoping to rile her, it occurs to me that this applies to a much larger set of people out there **indicating the world at large**

This is no idle statement ; I have had more that just a few such uncommonly sensible people trip across my lifeline, to bring affirmation to this thought.

For example, the special breed that comprises the 'IT Helpdesk' of many an organization. It takes a formidable amount of uncommon sense to manage the IT setup of any organization and to keep users separated from their data and crucial files. And come those moonlit nights when harddrives everywhere crash, these intrepid souls take it upon themselves to restore that which is your lifeline. Except that this invariably fails to include the following, hence turning said lifeline into a greased rope:

• Current Email
• Email Archives
• Working files
• Favorites Lists
• Desktop files

Another example is the average joe motorist on the roads, these days. And I use the term motorist loosely...you can take this to include chappies (and chappettes) behind the wheel of cars, vans, trucks, buses, 3-wheeler abominations, or on scooters, motorbikes and bicycles. The whole vehicular gamut. This particular breed has an uncommonly keen sense of direction and navigation. One that usually cuts across the front of your car at the traffic signal, or clips you on the elbow at a turning. Not to mention that this includes driving on the wrong side, parking in the no parking zones, switching lanes faster than the nappies on an incontinent baby without signaling.

A few other precious gems, who must not go unmentioned, are

• Waiters who set only spoons on the table when you have just ordered spaghetti or a steak
• Dhobis who will carefully iron out the tuck-in fold on the bottom of your jeans that you got done when you shortened them
• Utility services that terminate your service for failure to pay your bills on time, when they dispatch the bill on/two days after the due date
• Parking attendants who line up cars so close, ahead of, behind and next to your car, that you can only get in and out of there by apparating

I could go on...but I don't think I will. I think I will leave the rest of this precious lot for you to discover on your own.