Half a Step Over

Not So Common Sense

I know, probably not an original title. But, it is true that many people were born without common sense.

I come from a very bright family, at least from an IQ test point of view. My IQ, which I admit hasn’t been tested in a very long time, was never as high as the others. I’m fine with that. What I find hysterical though is that when you need someone to do the little everyday things, I’m called on. I’m considered to have more “common sense” than most.  My mother makes a party and furniture has to be taken apart so tables can come in? My sister the engineer isn’t first for that—I’m under the desk with a screwdriver…taking apart and putting together. Getting ready to move? From my children: “Mom, can you come pack me? You do it better and have better ideas to get everything in.” Yes, it’s true; I think through all the steps and figure out which ones are really needed, before I even get to the scene of the action.

But let’s talk about common sense in the thinking area. I know a very bright woman, eminently successful in her field, but she keeps getting into trouble because she doesn’t think things through in advance. Think about health care. She’s an independent contractor, and was paying for her own health care (separate topic she screams about that we’ll skip for today). The date for signing into the Affordable Care Act was announced far in advance. Three days before the deadline, she’s on the phone redoing her plan and complaining about how bad this all is. Now she’s complaining about how much she’s paying—never mind that her old plan was no longer available, and that she can now go to the doctor more than the four times annually that was previously allowed; and her new plan covers prescriptions, something else she didn’t necessarily have before. 

I don't claim to be better than anyone, but my plan came due at the end of June. I spent time on the phone with four companies, including hers, to get prices. No way would I sign up for her group; their charges are way out of line compared with others. I almost flipped when I heard what they would charge me – then again, that was before I heard what my current carrier wanted me to pay. Turns out they only recently started to cover NJ and have only a gold standard plan. I’m not staying with them either. If she had bothered to think about it, maybe she could have had other estimates. That would be common sense.

Thinking Ahead? 

Let’s talk about thinking for a moment. Really, if you do everything last minute, who’s actually to blame when things don’t go the way you want them to? I know, it’s the other guy’s fault. But maybe, just maybe, if you sat down a little sooner, and thought about it, and what it would take to get the result you wanted, you might get what you want, at a better price/time/location…. You get the point.

The other issue with common sense is that it doesn’t make you look brilliant, it’s more that you look like you’re plodding along, thinking a little too much. Plodding can have its advantages. That kind of thinking, for someone with common sense, can sometimes make you think of all the possibilities and outcomes, so you can at least look good, and maybe also make others look good. Always a welcome result.

And speaking of just thinking and planning ahead. Does it really make sense to look at a problem from only one viewpoint and then be surprised when other opinions are voiced and are better thought out than yours? Maybe it’s good to consider all sides of the question before figuring out the solution—that applies to not only assembling things, but also planning dinner, trips, and anything else that can happen in more than one way. Plus, if you insist that only one way can ever be the right way, you can end up with the car in mud in the middle of a dirt road that you really weren’t supposed to turn onto. The actual road to turn on is 100 feet up--and paved.

Have to go now. I’m doing another basement purge, and planning this week to get the bags ready for the garbage pickup. I’m trying to plan ahead. It’s only common sense.