A couple of days ago, while shopping at Foreign Buy, I was dismayed by the conversation occurring in front of me between the store employee at the counter and a customer. The customer was purchasing an extended warranty and a gift card. The first bit of information the employee requested from the shopper was her telephone number. Next, she asked for her date of birth. After that, she wanted the woman’s social security number! I was stunned by how naïvely compliant this shopper was!
I know people often have a P.O. Box address printed on their checks and will not disclose their street address when purchasing products, but yet they will give their phone number.
Yesterday, I discussed, with my neurotypical daughter [a wise adult], this odd phenomena I consistently observe. I wondered if she could see how illogical and unthinking this behavior is. She didn’t, until I explained both the short and long term consequences of this. Then she replied, “Mom, most people are never going to understand or even care.” That’s when she had to explain to me how, in the NT culture, its considered rude to make people feel like you don’t trust them.
Just as hard as it is for NTs to understand Aspies [unmedicated Aspies¹ tend to be non-conforming because our natural thinking mode is highly critical], I find it equally difficult to comprehend sheeplistic behavior! Governance is another term used for those who are inordinately tolerant, or welcome government intrusion and regulation. In a column entitled “A Nation of Sheeple,” columnist Walter E. Williams writes:
“Americans sheepishly accepted all sorts of Transportation Security Administration nonsense. In the name of security, we’ve allowed fingernail clippers, eyeglass screwdrivers and toy soldiers to be taken from us prior to boarding a plane.”²
This usage emphasizes that Americans sheepishly accept all sorts of nonsense, those in favor of globalization, or those affected with consumerism. It is also used to describe those who blindly submit to their public servants [stores, schools, etc.] and venerate them as authority figures and leaders, or likewise a political party as opposed to thoroughly analyzing their motivations with the realization that the people of the body politic are the government.
Can’t people see that there will be no end to regulations increasing because of their conformist behavior? Why don’t they also see what’s wrong with the difference between how they deal with mega corporations while making purchases of goods or services versus how they behave with an employee of a small business (would you give your social security number to your hairdresser?).
I’m beginning to fear my daughter is right when she told me that people really only care about what’s here and now. What is it that makes someone unable to see that what she (or he) is doing in the present moment, as an individual, is determining what we will all be controlled by in the future? Is it really because she (or he) is operating under the influence of fearing being socially incorrect? Is it embarrassing to tell a store’s cashier, “No, I will not give you my phone number, date of birth, and social security number, but I will give you the money you want for what I want to buy.”?
My guess is that the explanation to this sheeple question is either because of the difference between the way that Aspies can think versus neurotypicals (at least in regard to behavior in stores) and/or due to where your faith is [confidence/trust]. If you fear God, then you can’t fear what people will think of you when you appear peculiar. Even though there are some people who act as if they couldn’t care less what others think about them, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are not their own god.
¹I don’t mean to be insulting Aspies on meds. I’m speaking in very general terms, so please realize there may be some Aspies on meds who manage to retain their non-conformist aspect for critical thinking because of their logic boy brain.
²Capitalism Magazine, October 19, 2005.
