Watar

                In David Foster Wallace’s speech, he starts off with a little story about some fishies. The fishes are so used to the water that it becomes such an insignificant part of their lives. They are ignorant of something that is so vital to them since all they are thinking is themselves. What if we replace the fishes with humans? The “water” would be our surroundings, or rather life not revolved around us. It is human nature that we think about ourselves more than other people. Naturally, we put ourselves on a higher priority than others. Wallace’s example of waiting in grocery line perfectly reflects on our self-centered nature. If I was in his scenario, it would go something like this. So I’m done shopping but there’s this really long line. All I want to do is just get this over.  I would most likely get pissed at the people in front of me for buying so many items and taking up my precious time. Right there, I’m only thinking about my immediate needs. But if we step back and take a look at the whole picture, we might see that the lady in the front with a whole cart of grocery is using the last of her EBT card to last her throughout the month, or the parents trying to buy enough food for their daughter’s first birthday party. I have also been in this scenario but switched. Instead of being angry at the people for “ruining” my day, I was actually the person being an inconvenience to others. This happened during rush hour in downtown Chicago. We were going as tourists so we were unaccustomed to the busy and frantic traffic that Troy didn’t have. We made many sudden turns and I could just hear the horns blaring at us. At the moment, I wasn’t thinking about myself; I was thinking about what others thought of me. Self-centered me quickly became self-conscious. Our minds mold in whatever situation we are in. Back in the grocery line, I finally get to the front of the line, but now I can feel the irritated looks I am getting from the people behind me. The looks I used to give. It’s all about the perspective you find yourself in.