W.I.N. Wednesday: Don't take it out on them.

The people who make the rules, regulations and laws are very rarely the people who have to enforce them. If you are unhappy with the rules, don’t take it out on the people who are tasked with enforcing them.

I just returned from one of the rare business trips in the last 14 months.  I had to have a negative COVID PCR test within 72 hours of boarding my flight to the US and had to pay for that myself. I had to have another negative COVID PCR test within 72 hours of boarding my flight back to Canada and had to pay for that. On the trip home I flew from Dallas to Denver and Denver to Calgary. I had to wear a mask in every airport and on all the flights. When I checked in at DFW I had to show proof of the negative COVID test and the receipt on my phone to prove I had completed the ArriveCan app required by the Canadian government. I had to show the same documentation at the gate in Denver and get a temperature check prior to boarding. In Calgary I had to show the volunteer in the Customs area the ArriveCan receipt prior to proceeding into Customs. In Customs I had to show all the documentation to the CBSA officer and confirm I had a reservation at a government approved hotel where I was required to self isolate at my expense for 3 nights prior to going home to self isolate for another 11 days. Once through Customs I had to get a COVID test at the airport prior to proceeding to my hotel. The hotel staff had to check me in and escort me to my room after confirming the rules with me. The hotel rates are dictated by the federal government and are double the normal rates. 

Was all of that costly and a pain in the butt? Yes. Did I know all of these requirements prior to going on the trip? Yes. It was my choice to go on the trip and incur those costs and follow those rules.  Did the people doing the COVID tests, the ticket agents and gate agents with the airline, the hotel staff or the CBSA officers have any input into the rules? No. Were they all tasks with enforcing the rules? Yes. Are they the ones who take the abuse from some people who are pissed off about the rules? Unfortunately, yes.  All of them told me (when I asked) that some people have been really ugly and aggressive towards them. 

If I don’t like the travel rules I can stay home. If I don’t like the rules requiring me to wear a mask in stores, I can shop online. If I don’t like the rules requiring me to wear a mask when I go into a restaurant, I can order takeout or delivery.  I can make choices that do not require me to confront or abuse people who do not make the rules, but are tasked with enforcing the rules. 

Police officers don’t make the laws; they are however tasked with enforcing them. By-Law officers don’t make the by-laws; they are tasked however, with enforcing them. Public health officers don’t make the public health rules; they are tasked however with enforcing them. Sadly we see videos posted online of these people being verbally, and sometimes physically, abused by people who don’t like the rules. 

If you don’t like the rules then follow the proper channels and make your concerns known to the people who do make the rules, don’t take it out on the people who have to enforce the rules. 

Take care.

Brian Willis

www.lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com. Maximizing human potential through Life's Most Powerful Question - What's Important Now?

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