Expectations

I wonder if this one will be as long as the last one.

Everyone's been told at least once not to expect too much. But I don't think people think too much about how much they actually expect. At least, I didn't until recently. And I realize that the second sentence in this paragraph is so retarded it's almost poetry, but I couldn't come up with anything better. You see why my fiction writing goes nowhere.

Did you expect that bizarre digression into writing styles? Maybe, maybe not. Do you expect your screen to keep working? Do you expect me to keep typing in English? Do you expect a plane to not crash into the building you're sitting in right now?

We have to expect a great deal to be able to function, and the more we expect, or maybe I should say it as assuming-without-devoting-conscious-thought-to, or taking-for-granted, the more efficiently we can function. I don't actually take time in the morning to decide whether I should wear clothes when I go out. Seriously, I don't. I don't take the time to decide whether my raisin bran is going to kill me, I just eat it. I did take the time to check up on the creatine I've been taking, and have now decided not to take anymore. What, you thought I was going to make a moral argument? You should know better by now.

The most dangerous, and also the most necessary expectations we have, regard our fellow humans. I expect people not to assault me, and to send off some kind of cue before they do so. I expect my friends to know when I'm joking. I expect my students to give me some indicators of whether they have a clue what I'm talking about. Most of the time these expectations are met. On occasion, they are not.

Who's fault is that? Mine. To truly expect others to meet my expectations at all times would be arrogant. Even for me.