It only takes one open mouth to spoil silence. One person has the power to steal the silence from a full room of people who are following the rules.

Often times, the bad actor simply doesn’t care. They might know the rules, but they don’t think the rules apply to them. They’re selfish enough to think that they’re special.

But, more often than we might think, the bad actor is simply ignorant.

The old lady crawling in the fast lane is oblivious to the inconvenience she’s causing to those around her. The loudmouth misses the obscure sign requesting silence as he walks into the special exhibit.

This doesn’t make their wrongdoings any better. Ignorance shouldn’t be used as an excuse.

But hopefully it’s a useful warning sign.

If others are acting out without knowing it, then it’s safe to assume that we’re doing the same thing. And the worst part is that, by definition, we don’t even know when we’re doing it.

So sure, we should be more careful of our surroundings to prevent the times when we’re the bad actor without knowing it. But, probably more importantly, I see this as a great reason to almost never be the selfish one who decides that the rules aren’t for us.

If we’re already causing problems without knowing it, the least we can do is minimize the times when we consciously rebel.

-Brandon