If we expect better, maybe we'll actually get better

My Sunday column appears in the Arts+Life section of the Lexington Herald-Leader. Usually, it is about the arts, but occasionally it leans on the life side of things, like this one that appeared last Sunday, Aug. 5:

Monday afternoon I set out on foot from the Herald-Leader offices for the Starbucks at Main and Broadway, hoping to hop on a yellow bike along the way to shorten the trip.

The bikes are part of the downtown program in which users buy a key for $10 that allows them to unlock any of a fleet of about 80 yellow bikes in the downtown area to ride from point A to point B -- sort of self-piloted public transportation. (Copyrighted photo of a yellow bike, right, by Charles Bertram.)

Because I circulate in downtown a lot, I loved the idea.

Since the first few days of the program, the bikes have never seemed plentiful on the streets. But on this day, in a walk along Main from Midland Avenue to Broadway, then back on Short Street, I did not see a single yellow bike. Out of 80-something, not one was on these main drags in downtown.

So I had to walk, which left me time to think. My thoughts quickly traveled to the naysayers when the program started who said the bikes would all be stolen eventually. Had that happened?

But then I wondered: When did we become a society of such low expectations?

Many of the yellow bike detractors seemed to treat it as a fait accompli that these bikes would be stolen. Now, they say they're being realistic. That's how people are. We lock our doors for a reason.

I understand that. But I also think that when we assume people will act on their baser instincts, we're letting them off the hook. If someone is inclined to steal a bike, and they've heard the chatter, it makes it easier to say, "Why not? Everybody knew these were going to be stolen anyway."

Maybe, as our former freelance movie critic Matthew Towner once said, I just forgot to take my cynical pills. But we let a lot of people off the hook, from our neighbors to lofty elected officials, by not expecting much of them.

What if we thought like this:

~ I expect that if someone signs up for a program in which users share a piece of property, they will use it according to the rules and not steal or co-opt the item for extended periods.

~ I expect that employees who deal with customers, such as cashiers and salespeople, will treat me and others with courtesy, respect and undivided attention when it is our turn to deal with them.

~ I expect people who drive motor vehicles to obey the rules of the road, be aware of their surroundings and cooperate for the smoothest flow of traffic possible.

~ I expect people who have children to love them, pay attention to them and raise them to be good people.

~ I expect that if my number is on a no-call list, you will not have your phone solicitors call me anyway.

~ I expect highly paid athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc. to realize they are role models and therefore to play by the rules and obey the law.

~ I expect that if I vote for you, you will listen to me and my fellow voters more than the corporate toadies who are trying to buy your ear, and I expect you to work for the greater good. Oh, yeah, obey the law, too.

~ I expect corporations to serve the almighty customer as well as the almighty dollar.

~ I expect that if you profess a faith based on love, compassion and mercy, you will live a life that demonstrates love, compassion and mercy.

Call me naive, but bad behavior should not be par for the course, though these days, it seems to be.

Lowering our expectations opens a trap door to the lowest common denominator, and I want more from my world.

Yellow Bike update: Since the Monday walk described above, I have been on two other walks where I looked for Yellow Bikes but could not find them. That said, the Yellow Bike folks sent an e-mail out to users, revising the policies for use of the Yellow Bikes. They included setting a boundary between Maxwell and Third streets and Newtown Pike to Midland Avenue (personally, I wish they'd dial it back to Ashland Avenue so I can ride them to Starbucks). They also asked users to be alert for people making off with bikes and report them, and to bring bikes outside the boundaries back in. We'll see how it goes. I have high expectations.

Comments

[Alison]

We've seen them all over the place, usually much farther out than the downtown area they're supposed to be confined to. (But yeah, I agree that Ashland Avenue would make a good limit.)

Anyway, I really wanted to say that I read your column on Sunday and really enjoyed it, so I'm glad to see it here where I can leave a comment!