Losing Our Way

Currently the public water company is building a new pipeline to carry treated water from their new treatment plant to Edinburgh city, and this passes very close to the rear of my house. They have closed the road to the west, so that they may dig a trench to lay this pipe under the road. At the same time, the gas company has set up roadworks with a lengthy contraflow to the east, and the road to the north has no less than three contraflows for gas and water work.

Leaving aside the lack of respect and thought for the residents of this area, who are left marooned in the middle of this (this is British utility planning at it's best!), this has provided an interesting insight to modern behaviour, and more than a little amusement.

There are numerous large warning signs at various points along the approaches to the road closure, and it is not a major road, yet we can observe numerous cars screeching to a halt as they are faced with the barriers. So many then turn down our private road, in a vain attempt to avoid returning to the roadworks they have just sat at for an eternity, before realising that this road peters out into a number of rough farm tracks (and I do mean rough!). These are invariably the larger, shinier cars, with their onboard satellite navigation, who have blindly followed it's instructions, oblivious to the warnings they have passed.

Perhaps this is typical of our modern way of life. We hurtle along, looking only at our own planned route, never looking around at the warning signs provided. Obstacles and hazards appear in our path, when a little less speed and a little more attention would have seen us avoid them with ease. The rush towards our own questionable goals is thwarted by forgetting to observe the rest of the world as it passes us by.

So, I will continue to forget the satnav, and the routeplan, and will take the time to look around at the warning signs and the alternatives! And then trust my own judgement!