Discussion»Questions»Human Behavior» If someone dropped their personal, hand-held, electronic communication device and you accidently stepped on it, would you care?
For most people these days, their mobile phone is their address book, diary, organiser, the repository of personal data, bank access, news source, street directory, and encyclopedia. To lose their mobile phone is a disaster.
I'd care if I broke or damaged anything belonging to someone else, and I'd do whatever it took to get it repaired or replaced a.s.a.p. even if it meant going into debt.
Yes. I regard it as my responsibility not to be clumsy. If I have an accident, I look at what happened to see if I've been negligent or done something that caused it.
Back in 1981 in London, UK, I met up with an old school friend for lunch at a crowded café. We were seated at a table with a man, a stranger.
As my friend Fi stood up to go to the loo, her coat knocked his glasses off the table. She didn't notice and trod on them. Both lenses were smashed.
He was deeply distressed. She refused to accept responsibility on the grounds that he "shouldn't have left them lying around." I was so embarrassed by her behaviour that I apologised for her and gave him my contact details.
When the optometrist's bill arrived it was £221. $10 in 1981 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $26.97 in 2017, a difference of $16.97 over 36 years. So the man's glasses were worth £573 in today's money, or in American dollars, $717.51. That's no small mistake. I was a student at the time, so I borrowed the money from Mum, paid the man by postal order and got a part-time job in a telemarketing company to pay it off.
I acknowledge that I was not responsible for my friend's actions - but I could not bear to see that man suffer for her lack of care and attention to her movements.
This post was edited by inky at July 6, 2019 3:30 PM MDT
It's really been a challenge sometimes for some reason for me for a large portion of my life! Starting to laugh at myself (even laughing with others openly about it) over 'overly' apologizing has been a good help in refraining. Friends even help sometimes, ha! As in saying, "DON'T apologize over this!" :)
Thanks, Thriftymaid, for your reply here - - reading it helped me today. :)
This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at July 6, 2019 3:42 PM MDT
In addition to my other answer, yes, in this case, I would apologize sincerely for stepping on it. Regardless of how the person dropped the device, I accidentally stepped on it. :)
SpunkySenior 