I’m at the Ohio Game Developers Expo in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.
After Scott Foe’s talk on “Big Problems” I really had to pee. I could have talked to him after I left the auditorium, but I REALLY had to pee.
So did a lot of people. There was a line of people waiting to pee. While standing there, I noticed a ladybug on the sink countertop, on it’s back in the middle of a droplet of water, kicking like mad to right itself, but unable to because the water’s surface tension was gluing it to the countertop.
Ladybugs fall into the classification of “non-gross insects” so, without hesitation, I helped it get on it’s feet by lightly brushing it with my finger until it flipped over. It began walking around on the countertop, too heavy with water to fly.
A few seconds later, a urinal freed up and it was my turn to pee. So I stepped up and took care of what I was there to do.
When I went back to the sink to wash my hands, the ladybug was gone. I don’t know if it hid somewhere, not that there was a lot of places for it to go, or if someone did something to the ladybug.
The morals:
- Take care of what you need to do.
- The cost of doing what you need to do in the immediate term can be great in the long term.
- If you see someone struggling, stop and help them, even if they seem insignificant. The cost of solving problems that are truly insignificant to you is often negligible.
- You can’t do everything for them, but do what you can.
- You can’t control what happens to them or what other people will do, but try to help them anyway.