Sitting by the door,,,,,,,

at the coffee shop.

There are two doors. They open both directions. One is locked and the other isn't.

In the past minute i saw maybe 20 people walk in and out.

One person walks up, grabs the closed door handle, pushes, pulls, nothing happens, they try the other handle and they gain entrance/exit to the building.

The person behind the one who failed to open the closed door, after waiting for the first one to figure out which door to use, steps forward, grasps the closed door, and to their SURPRISE(huh?) it does not open.

I saw one person who saw the door didn't open by someone else, and didn't try, but everyone watched the person in front try to open the door, and even though the working door was open, for some strange reason people still try to open the locked door.

Are humans goldfish?

It appears so.

I saw it happen 3 more times in the couple minutes it took me to type this post.

Just a thought for goldfish to ponder for a second while waiting to open the locked door,,,,,,,,

Dezertskies, there is something about your post that made me smile broadly. Can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it struck a chord that resonated strongly.

Yes, people are goldfish, but you have to add one little word; most.

Most people don't listen, don't take in anything that can help them, even in their daily lives. Most folks simply follow the back in front of them (if that makes sense), no matter what mistakes it may make.
Sometimes, I truly believe we are living in a world where the blind really do lead the blind.

If something extraneous and challenging to this sheltered little existence dares to infringe in these carefully structured existences, then it is either ignored, belittled or creates friction. Most people don't think for themselves and live their lives on autopilot. But for goodness sake don't point it out to them! Noone likes to be told they're not using the intelligence they were given.

I'm pretty sure if you pointed out to any one of those folks struggling to get into an open building that they were doing something dumb, they'd get defensive instantly. It's akin to being awakened from a nice sleep; you don't want to deal with reality, and would rather be back where you were comfortable.

In a pub I used to frequent, there was a chair by the entrance to which I would gravitate to on purpose. The reason was that the front doors were surrounded by large plate glass panels.
They were patently glass panels, supported by thick black wooden frames.
No handles.
No sign saying entrance.
Nothing to indicate these were the way in.
Yet, time after time, people would try to gain entry via these panels, which invariably resulted in a bumped nose and a bruised ego. It never failed to amuse.

Enjoy your coffee.

Another one from about 6 years ago, i worked the window occassionally at an animal sanctuary.

We had a cougar, birds, and lemurs right at the entrance. Also at the entrance was a sign, painted on a 4x8 sheet of plywood:

Adults $8.00
Kids $4.00
Under 5 Free

The average "goldfish" would come up, look a the animals, watch the birds squak, the cats pace, the lemurs jump around, look at the sign, look around, turn to me and ask:

"Do you have animals here?"

The next question was oftentimes:

"Are they alive?"

Depending on how frustrated i was by that point, i'd sometimes tell them:

"No, all of our animals are advanced animatronic robots."

Some would wonder in the amazement of the animatronics.

The next question is usually, after staring at the sign with the prices and apparently studying it intently for a reasonable enough timeframe to comprehend all of the information contained in it's intricate complexity of 3 lines.

And it would be either:

"Does it cost money?"
or
"How much does it cost?"

I'd kindly refer them to the sign that has the prices listed.

They'd ponder the sign for a second, and finallly turn to me:

"So it costs $8.00?"

And at that i'd confirm that they are in fact literate and capable of reading, leading to the conclusion that the problem lies therein with the fact that they just don't comprehend, or forget what they read 3 seconds later.

It would usually take a few more rounds of circular nonsense like this before they can gain admission, due to similar lines of ridiculous questions:

"Do i have to pay if i just want to look at the animals?"
(My thought, What the hell were you planning to do to/with the animals if not look at them?)

"If i pay, do i get to see the animals?"
(my thought, Are you aware of anything around you?)


Usually the people who ask these questions also have quite a difficult time counting 8 dollars. And there's a LOT of them. I'd get those questions repeatedly all day.

Another one i'd get all the time, i had a sandwich shop and these same types would attempt to feed.

During a rush, i'd be taking orders and making sandwiches and doing business with the regular crowd. Someone i see stand in line, watch me make and sell a few sandwiches, will step to the counter and ask:

"Are you open?"

"Do you have food here?"

There's a list of sandwiches on the wall with prices, they see that and ask:

"Is this your menu?"
(No, i just put that big sign there to show you what we don't have)

And there's a lot of them out there. Fortunately i live in a pretty down to earth place with a low idiot quotient, so it's mostly with the outlanders that come here and swim into the glass repeatedly.