Habits

I recalled a story from my university days. It showed that habits can take one into actions they don’t even need. We were a group of buddies. We had finished our exams and wanted to celebrate at the beach in Entebbe before we returned to the tyranny of being at home. We decided to hire a public taxi from Kampala to Entebbe. We negotiated with the gentleman to drop us and to be ready to pick us later in the evening. The driver and the conductor were on time. Taxi was clean . We paid. We set off.

As the trip went on, we noticed that driver and conductor whispering heatedly. Concerned, we asked what the matter was

Conductor replied: The empty seats are disturbing me. And I am bored doing nothing.

Me: We paid you for all the seats, even the empty ones. What’s the problem?

Conductor: I know. But I am doing nothing. I am seeing empty seats inside. Passengers outside and I am itching to call them

Me and my buddy’s were amazed.

Conductor: Let’s do a deal. I call passengers and we deliver them. All money they pay is yours. Is that okay? I will stop being restless.

We burst out laughing and agreed. The conductor lit up like it was Christmas and immediately started looking for passengers. He haggled with them happily on our behalf and religiously handed over all the money. He was happy. At the end of the trip he thanked us.

It hit me that the man’s habits couldn’t let him do other things even when conditions had changed. Human psychology is interesting