Who wasn't ready to "hammer time"?!
I think what's most interesting (other than MC Hammer's plight at the time and over the years) is the fact that when he said, "you can't touch this", what he really meant is "you won't" or "you wouldn't"; this was highly likely the case anyways. Imagine, MC standing there in front of you saying, "Go ahead...try....thought I told you...can't touch this!"
I remember there were times where either on television or in classrooms I'd hear, "Get the word can't out of your vocabulary". This also reminds me of my learning about the differences between can (having the ability) and may (asking for permission).
Let's flip that for a second.
Why is it that we're so fascinated with what we can't do? It's akin to "defining" ourselves by what we aren't (or what we can't).
Dear Father,
I see in your book that it says:
"For I can do everything through Christ,who gives me strength. [Philippians 4:13(NLT)]"
Were you serious?!
-Curious Christian
This is going to be a quickie.
Pay close attention or you MIGHT miss something.
Not too long ago I noticed how quick people are to tell you that they can't do something.
Think about it...
You call customer service and they swear up and down that, "I can't ...." until you threaten to cancel your service (at which point they transfer you to customer retention #protip)
A person walks into McDonald's who doesn't eat meat and says, "I want a hamburger without the meat". The cashier responds promptly, "We can't sell..." It turns out that they can :-)
There are too many examples to name of people being quick to say they can't do something. It's no different than talking with someone who speaks another language (or when we learn to speak another language) and pretend to not understand without even trying to establish a channel of communication.
Here are 2 of my quick examples:
At school there's a spot where we go to pick up tests, quizzes, and assignments if they aren't handed back in class. I had taken my exam a week prior and was curious to see how I did. I followed protocol as usual, showed them my badge, gave them the course number, the usual. To my surprise they questioned me about the course number suggesting that they didn't have anything for a course with that specific number. Most of their classes start with 18-xxx, but this one was 14-xxx and wasn't cross-listed (i.e. 14-xxx/18-xxx, having 2 course numbers) I knew this wasn't the case because I had done this several times before for this course.
Caveat: The person who is usually there left about 2-3min before they were to close. At this point I was dealing with someone who doesn't usually work there, even though they were still within the operating hours.
The cabinets where the files are held for each class is behind this person. I say, "If you look behind you..." Before I can even get the words out her coworker tries to help by speaking. They both try to assure me that the course number I've given them is wrong, to which I assure them by pointing that, "It's right there...you just passed it".
Of course at this point they probably feel: 1) silly and 2) somewhat "emotional" because we just had a slight confrontation. It wasn't anything too serious but I'm sure they weren't feeling bubbly inside.
In the midst of this conversation the first lady (who doesn't usually do this) made the statement, "I don't usually work here. I can't..."
I understand that you don't usually do this; however, if you're going to attempt to takeover for someone a) Know what you're doing, b) ask for help, c) allow someone to give input because they may know more than you (which I did, to some extent).
Turns out they didn't have my paper and I'd have to contact the instructor. Things could've went so much smoother though. The fact that she said she couldn't do something didn't gel with me; realizing this after I had left.
The other example is when I called my doctor's office to get some documents/forms signed off on for an upcoming job. Before I can explain what I need when the nurse returned my call, she cut me off by stating "I can't do that." I had to firmly suggest that she could and in fact that they (the doctor's office) would need to in order to fulfill my job requirements.
In this instance I realized it wasn't that she couldn't do it, it's that she:
I) didn't want to OR II) thought it was beyond her pay grade, job responsibility, competence.
SN2: Don't get me started on competence*
This particular example gets better in that I talked to almost everyone in the office outside of the doctors themselves and visited in person explaining myself every time. To this day I never got what I needed from them because of a number of reasons including lack of communication within the office. I'd say that they're _____ but it might not serve justice to those who really are _____ ....if you get what I mean.
 |
| Stupid is as stupid does. #ForrestForrestGump |
SN: Another interesting phenomena is when you ask someone to do something a certain way and they don't do it. I'm big on following instructions; key life skill.
For Christians, it's interesting to ask this question: What if God responded to your questions with a can't do attitude? (e.g. "Bless my work", "Forgive my sins", "Teach me how to love")
I would think that any request (other then prayers which seem unanswered) might cause folk to believe less in God, and possibly less in themselves. #story4anotherTime
This goes really well with self-awareness too...think about that. Ever tell yourself you can't do something? Sometimes I do that with this academic thing...good for me I go to a school where we "learn by doing", so I can't make that excuse anymore. #seeWhatIdidThere
Sumthn2Ponder(s2p):
In Case You Need It:
- Think on a time when someone told you they "can't" do something without even giving it a thought.
In Case You Need It:
*Special Feature: "Social Injustice #1" ft. liMitz
(Best heard w/ headphones. Sorry about the low audio)
(Best heard w/ headphones. Sorry about the low audio)
Share your "I can't" moments...whether you said it yourself or heard someone say it! #comment
