“That’s what you get for thinking.” It sounded like the woman was near panic as she spoke with a TV reporter by phone. “We live in about the middle of Galveston Island and thought we could ride it out,” she said of the approaching Hurricane Rita. “But then we decided that we would rather not be dead.” She seemed to be saying that she and her spouse would have been better off to follow the crowd and evacuate. There are times to be an independent thinker, of course. No one wants to be just one of the herd, following the leader. We are thinkers! Even so, once in a while, we all make mistakes as a result of our decision-making process.
There are times when it is best to yield to the advice of people who are better informed and better educated in areas that we are not. It’s not easy for hard-charging leaders to yield. It is a lesson to be learned. Hopefully, they got out safely.
(My own daughter and her family chose not to leave their home in the western outskirts of Houston.)
