Why Do We Want Problems to Be Someone’s Fault?

Last weekend I was driving a friend home down Portage Avenue and we encountered an unexpected traffic jam. Four lanes had been reduced to one because a crew was working on the overpass.

Even though it was Saturday afternoon and neither of us were in any sort of rush, and even though I was consciously trying to take the delay in stride, I couldn’t help but comment that they’ve been working on that bridge “for 8,000 years now” and that contractors seem to take as long as possible to finish things.

Having worked in the construction industry, I know this isn’t true. Contactors get paid for the completion of the job, not the time spent on it, and the city does everything they can to minimize traffic disruption, which is why this was happening on Saturday and not Monday.

Still, something in me wants there to be a guilty party. If there’s nobody to blame, I have to recognize that I live in an unsympathetic reality in which bridges have to be fixed, other cars use the road, and pain and inconvenience cannot always be argued with. My intuitive preference is to believe that even the smallest difficulties in my life are unnecessary and the fault of bad actors.

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Πηγή: raptitude.com