Yesterday a friend of mine drove away from a gas station after pumping gas. Except he forgot to put the nozzle back on the pump. He drove away with it still in his car. Ouch. I’m painfully embarrassed for him just thinking about it. I didn’t realize that people in real life really did that. I thought it only happened in the land of internet forwards. Apparently, if you do this in real life, they charge you $175.00 immediately. Good to know.
The best part is that he is about to finish grad school in a few months, and become a doctor.
The irony of this provided a whole evening of teasing, that didn’t really get old, even after making the joke for the 20th time…. “Paging Dr. so and so… please remove the nozzle from your gas tank before driving away….”
He went on to defend himself with his theory that the smartest people make the dumbest mistakes. Despite having committed one of the dumbest acts ever, he is highly intelligent and argued an excellent case. Interesting idea, and beyond just trying to justify one of the dumbest mistakes in his adult life, it actually has some validity to it.
How better to learn in life that to make the stupidest mistakes ever?
Later that night, we watched a video of Joe Rogan from a 2006 live stand up act.
Most people are only familiar with him as the host of Fear Factor, and current announcer of UFC. While he is entertaining in these roles, his roots in stand up comedy are where all the good stuff really is. He also has a great blog.
His stand up is a very George Carlin-esque with an attitude of how ridiculous so many things and people generally are. Beyond being entertaining, Joe has an incredible level of intelligence in his social commentary. He has a wonderful way of combining confidence and cockiness while being humble, with highly intelligent material coming from a regular guy. His philosophical views of life really appeal to me, brilliantly interwoven within his stand up comedy.
Before I go on, go watch this video that inspired this post, with his commentary of the level of intelligence in the human race. Note: If you are easily offended, or don’t like cursing, don’t watch it. He’s fairly in your face and raunchy, which is why I love him.
Joe Rogan: Idiots of the Past, Present and Future
His main point (that he makes earlier in this stand up piece, that isn’t part of the above clip) is that none of us really know anything. We are all just idiots, equally, figuring out life as we go along. No one really knows anything for sure, and the ones that are certain about anything are probably the people to be most cautious of.
I find this simple fact that we are all human, fallible, and usually wrong empowering. It goes completely against my usual New Age, Secret-based, optimistic, fluffy, happy way of thinking that I usually embrace. We are all equally idiots, without a clue as to the creation of our universe, what happens after we die, and the meaning of life. We are all just doing the best that we know how to do, and taking our best stab at the answers to the universe. I find this thought incredibly comforting for some strange reason. And brilliantly humbling.
Uncertainty is one of the most frightening things for most people. But this controversial view of our collective stupidity puts each and everyone of us in the same boat. I do incredible stupid things all the time. Like unlocking my car door and getting in, and then automatically placing my keys back in the little pocket in my purse where they live. It doesn’t take more than a second for me to feel like an idiot and realize I need those same keys that I just put away to start the car. I just usually don’t tell people about these things. Everyone else must do comparable acts of stupidity. We just generally don’t talk about it.
This realization made me think. What if we just embraced our stupidity, and mistakes and flaws? What if more people turned perceived weaknesses into a reason to have more self confidence?
I have recently realized that the wisest people are the ones that are capable of acknowledging their own weaknesses. I don’t care how rich or famous or brilliant you are… most successful people become that way by acknowledging their ignorance, and then using it to learn. Whenever I meet someone that is overly self confident or bragging about their abilities, it instantly makes me think the opposite. Those people are trying to cover up something. The smartest, wisest people are the ones that don’t have anything to prove, and acknowledge their faults.
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” ~Albert Einstein
What have you done that is ridiculously stupid? Comment and tell the world, if you have the courage. 
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I think this idea of everyone having an equal amount of stupidity also applies to grace. I have yet to meet a dancer who’s not a complete klutz off-stage (myself included…to an extreme). My theory is they use up their allowance of gracefulness on-stage and leave nothing for the real world. I see no problem in that, except that it’s probably a good thing I stopped waiting tables (I’ve spilled red wine on more white shirts than I will ever care to admit).
I’ve stopped keeping track of all the stupid things I do and just chalk them up to quirks and personality. It’s generally only when someone else points them out that I notice them now. So, sorry I don’t have a specific example to share with the world here at this moment.
Spilling wine on white shirts is a pretty damn good example in my opinion
I hear ya.. I have split a glass table top by dropping a full split directly in the center off my tray…
That is so interesting about dancer’s theory of using up all their allowance of gratefulness. Brilliant.
You’ve brought up a great point here, we are all so imperfect, and that is beautiful!
I constantly misplace things, almost daily… I’m even searching for my keys at times when they are in my hand!!
There truly is something very real, and very human about acknowledging our “stupidity”, or when we accidentally show it publicly. Why do we try so hard to hide our imperfections when we all have them? Maybe because we do try so much to hide them, it’s so humorous when they are brought into the light in front of our friends.
Thanks for sharing this. A good friend of mine drove away with the nozzle once, too! This is something I would totally do if I hadn’t been aware of how expensive this mistake was! Now, I always look to see that it’s back on the pump before I take off!
Cheers,
Miche
Hey Karen.this is a really interesting post. The first thing that came to mind of things I have done was the day I filled up my car with petrol from a pump that was locked! The
. Great message, we’re all just doing the best we can aren’t we?
Petrol casme out but the lady at the counter looked at me like I was mad and asked why I’d done that! My only defence was it was early and I wasn’t awake yet, maybe like your friend
Love the parallel to Joe Rogans point. Great article!
Hello Karen.
I actually did the same thing last week, except the nozzle disconnected from the car and fell to the ground after I had driven forward about 10 feet, and then I picked it up and placed it back where it should have been. It was pretty funny and I smiled at the other customers before I headed off.
I just re-read that first paragraph of yours. That would have sucked to have had it stay connected to the car, causing me to get charged that $175. Now I’m pretty glad about how it occurred.
On a separate note, there is usually always other people looking at us as stupid for what we are doing, and others looking at us as smart for what we are doing. I learn from those who see what I am doing as stupid so I can see what I am doing foolishly, and appreciate those who think that what I am doing is smart, and it serves as motivation.
Thanks for this message.
Definitely the worst idea I’ve had in several years was buying a condo a few years ago. I mean, I guess no one knew at the time what was going to happen to the real estate market. But the point is that I bought it because I said to myself “it’s about time for you to own property, young man.” Now I’m renting it out and really hoping my tenants have some interest in buying. But if I get the chance to do another real estate investment I’ll definitely be a lot wiser going into it.
OMG, that would be so embarrassing. I have to admit I have done some stupid things in my life that were probably just as embarrassing.
When I lived in Albuquerque NM I worked for Schwans and I met another driver at Subway for lunch. After about 15 minutes we both happened to look outside and instantly froze because we realized that my truck was not where I had parked it. At first we thought someone stole the truck even though I had the keys in my pocket. The truth is that I wished that it would have gotten stolen. The emergency brake wasn’t engaged properly and this big Schwan’s truck rolled down the hill in the parking lot and hit a brand new infinity. At that moment—I felt equally as stupid. LOL
When I was younger, I told one of my friends to put his hand on a metal rod that had just been in a fire. Not a good result.
LOL! This is really funny, though not very nice. And I like your matter-of-fact way of telling what happened. It makes it all the more funny.
Cheers~
Mark
Haha, wow that’s crazy. I have driven off with the gas lid unscrewed or the cover opened, but never gone off with the entire gas nozzle!
I agree that there’s nobody that’s completely smart. “Smart” can be defined in many ways. A genius can be smart with academics, but be really stupid in the simplest matters of street smarts.
It just shows that there’s always more to learn in life, and there’s never a defining moment where you “know” everything.
Hey Karen!
Yep, we all make dumb mistakes:)
I’ve lost my car when I was pretty sure I parked it in a certain street, walked for 2 hours not being able to find it.
I have left my car unlocked in the middle of the street (luckily nothing disappeared.
Im sure Ive done lots more dumb things but they dont come to mind right now
Great post miss!
Have an awesome day!
Diggy
You want me to write down the dumb things I have done?
Are you sure your server has enough disc space?
How about quitting every single job I ever had before I can find the next one, and when the interviewer asks, so where have you worked before, answering with ask me where I haven’t, it will be a shorter list. I actually did that once, and still got hired. A years and half later, I quit. with no job lined up.
You know that pre-employment test that they give you to see if you’re the right person to hire, I actually walked up to the HR person to ask what would be the right answer to such and such question.
Oh I can go on and on forever.
Rasheed
Oh, my life has been one exhaustive list of mistakes after mistakes…dumb ideas that, well, didn’t seem so dumb at the time but didn’t turn out so well. You live and you learn…or well, if you’re smart you learn. I haven’t always been the smartest about learning from my mistakes, which is why I repeat so many of them!
Things said which can’t be unsaid, things done which can’t be undone…these are the things that makeup a life. But you can’t let them get you down. Whitney Houston once said that learning to love yourself is the greatest gift of all…but that’s not true. learning to *laugh* at yourself is truly the greatest gift of all!
I love this post. As for my stupidity… I’m known for driving past the exit I need to get off on the highway. I do it all the time. In fact, a few weeks ago I drove 20 MILES past the exit I was supposed to get off before I realized what I was doing. Embarrasing but I’m all about admitting faults, so I told a bunch of people. I think it’s SO important to admit when you do something dumb, and I’m glad you talked about that in this post.
ok…here’s what I think. I think that we ARE all equal in our stupidity…BUT we have a mental choice to choose better…
mistakes like the gas hose is NOT because he had a stupid moment…it’s because he was not present in that moment…he was somewhere else…THAT can happen to any of us…smart or not.
We are not immune to these moments…
Hey Karen, I’m loving these stories you’ve gotten everyone to tell!
And, I’ve been enjoying what I’ve been discovering here at Dreamin’ the Life!
I meant to mention that I wrote a post a few weeks ago about how “we’re all just bozos”, http://bit.ly/1G5KEJ along the same thought lines, to celebrate and embrace our inherent, human, “stupidity”… Would love your thoughts!
Cheers,
Miche
As humans we’re all fallible which makes life interesting!
This is the reason I’m a strong believer in humility. We all make mistakes but through humility, we can continue on our path to a better self.
On a side note, if we’re not making any mistakes, does that mean we’re not pushing our boundaries?
“Stupidity” is just a label, as is everything in life. What makes one man “smart” so to speak means absolutely nothing to another man.
I think the more we make mistakes, the more luck we get.
Thanks for the great post!
Dayne
Hi Karen. So true. Everyone should look closely at your post. We all do equally dumb things. If I may, I’d like put a different spin on your truth. Here it is. When a really bright guy like your doctor friend does something witless, we may get a small glimpse of the full truth. The full truth is….each of us also has equal Human worth, however smart or handicapped we may be. Whether we’re doing crazy things or achieving earth-shaking goals, each of us cannot be worth less than anyone else. Most people don’t really believe this of course. But that’s only because they’re looking at the world the wrong way. If we changed the way we see things, Kings and paupers and professors and paperboys would all realize the heart, soul, or Spirit within them was worth the same. Ciao Karen. John Duffield
I agree with John Duffield and I appreciate the message you try to send through your post Karen
Yes just like John said, we are all worth of equal value – roughly about 4-5 dollars
Anyways, that just is me saying that we are all human beings with desires and fears. When we see a sad movie, we will all feel sadness, when we see a comedy we will all likely want to smile and laugh.
And once in a while, no matter how brilliant and aware we might be, we have our “human moments”. Human beings are imperfect, and that is exactly what makes us human beings.
I wish that everybody on Earth would realize that human beings are basically biological clones of each other, and that the only thing that makes us separate from each other is the thing that is sitting on our necks.
The only thing that is going to keep this world from advancing is our inability to focus on our similarities as a human race. And just as you mentioned in your post, we do stupid things, just like human beings, we do stupid things like stereotype.
Its a paradox kind of, human beings are imperfect, however, it is because of our imperfections that separate ourselves as a race. So does that mean being human is naturally being stupid and isolated from our differences?
Anyways, sorry fro getting off track here, I really enjoyed your post. I hope you will write more posts about your life that could send insightful messages about human beings
Steven
I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life but the most stupid is not accepting my mistakes. It took me time to realize that I’m the one who suffers from this stupid belief.
Oftentimes, I laugh at myself for being ignorant and highly gullible. Are we not?
Decades ago Will Rogers said, “We’re all ignorant…just on different subjects!” To top it all off, we often become so focused on one thing we forget we are doing another. That is one of the main reasons cell phones finally replaced alcohol as the leading cause of fatal auto accidents: texting while driving!!! I’ve done so many stupid things I sometimes refer to myself as “A professional bad example”. If you’ve never done anything stupid, chances are you haven’t done much of anything at all. Thanks for introducing me to Joe Rogan’s blog. I’ve always liked his attitude. Dailymotion too, despite letting the site suck up 4 or 5 hours of my day!
As much as I usually agree with you, I can not believe we are all equally stupid … only because I’ve run into too many people who have no desire to accept their ignorance or will to reduce it! While it’s true we all start with equal ignorance, it’s the people who refuse to realize we all have our faults who come to believe they have none themselves. Thanks for the reminder; I don’t really need to be told how ignorant I am … I discover new depths of my ignorance almost daily!
Keep up the good work.