The Amazing Phenomenon Called Parades
Just like with a community parade, if participants don’t follow the chosen route and heed the rules, things would fall apart within minutes. Following expected guidelines doesn’t make us push-overs or conformists. It’s the sign that we’re willing to give up a small measure of our personal choice for the advancement of the entire community.
Ever thought about all the independent decisions and actions that have to work together and remain streamlined in order for even a small town to full off a homestyle parade? I was thinking about that today because my town had its annual city parade this morning, and I was simply blown away but the intricacies of the planning.
But that planning doesn’t all take place from the vantage point of a central committee or master of ceremonies that orchestrates every step. I’m sure almost all city parades have their planning committees but they just set the guide posts. The rest is left to the individual groups to follow those guidelines. And as far as I could tell, everything was carried out without a hitch this morning, overlooking a few instances where where one group had to run to catch up with the main procession.
Why do we follow expectations like the ones I’m sure were set for this morning’s parade? In my economics classes we always talked about the “self-interested utility maximizer” as being the standard human context. But if all of us lived according to that principle then parades like the sweet one I witnessed this morning, would require a ton more enforcement and policing because every group would be motivated to to try to get their group as much positive notoriety as they could. The bands would play their music louder, dancer would wear different costumes and choose different moves, the karate dojos would have real street fighting on display, and the volunteer horse dropping patrol would be nonexistent, so we’d have to watch our step for sure.
But I didn’t see any of those examples of taking advantage of the system or bending or breaking rules for personal gain. Some people might say that this is a sign our human need to conform to group norms. And I’m certain that that plays some part in this rule keeping, but I like to think that there’s something benevolent at work here too.
Whenever I see someone waiting in line smiling at a child who is upset or when I see someone change seats on a plane so that a family can be together or when someone lets another shopper go ahead of them because they only have a couple of items—it reminds me that there is still human kindness, collective interest in the greater good, and a commitment to making our neighborhoods and cities safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable to live in left in this world. And though we might not always be aware of our small but powerful actions, accumulatively, they add up to making our lives richer.
Just like with a community parade, if participants don’t follow the chosen route and heed the rules, things would fall apart within minutes. Following expected guidelines doesn’t make us push-overs or conformists. It’s the sign that we’re willing to give up a small measure of our personal choice for the advancement of the entire community.