Westside Story – A Leg Up

I have always had an interest in human behavior, which motivated me to study psychology and sociology in high school and college. My interest in human behavior is one of the reasons I became a police officer. The big question we often face is, what makes people behave the way they do?

For instance; after the owners of the property shown in my photo spent thousands of dollars renovating and painting their business property to make it pleasant for themselves, their employees, and the public, this charming young lady chose to put the bottom of her shoe on the newly painted wall.

Where has her shoe been? Some of the possibilities are dirt, mud, water, cat urine, oil, or a doggy landmine. I doubt I would be able to talk her into licking the bottom of her shoe. If her shoe is not clean enough to touch with her tongue, it is likely sufficiently dirty enough to smudge a new paint job.

I am not Mr. Perfect. I use to lean on the paint in my parents home especially near the doorways. My parents were quick to administer a robust educational / training program to help me change my behavior. They also provided a similar educational effort related to helping me learn to turn off lights in rooms I no longer occupied.

My parents’ educational efforts coupled with my own life experience after I became responsible for painting my own home and paying my power bill, confirmed that my parents had some intelligent behavior ideas that were right on target.

A short list of reasons for this young lady’s behavior failure are as follows:

1. She has never performed any painting where she learned the work involved in operating a brush or roller.
2. She has never paid the bill for having her own space painted by a professional.
3. Her parents failed to teach her socially acceptable behavior that would make it possible for her to venture into public space successfully.
4. She thinks the world revolves around her and no one else matters.
5. She is stupid.
6. She is intelligent but naive.
7. She is clueless.

While I chose to crop my live action photo to save the paint wrecker the embarrassment of having her face on public display, if you know you are she because you recognize your shoes, please respect the property of others and keep your shoes off walls.

If you can learn this simple lesson, you will have a leg up for getting along more successfully in society.