Taking Things for Granted or Just Comfortable?

Taking things for granted, that happens fairly often and we live with it. Its really not that bad to take things for granted, makes life easier, simpler. Not true? Take example :



I recently did an ebay search on handphones and i discovered something. Under the description of almost every handphone, it seems fairly important to denote the phone as unlocked. My initial reaction was surprise, for i didn't know a phone could come in locked or unlocked status. But what did locking or unlocking a phone do?



Apparently, a locked phone means the phone is locked to the service provider. Say if SunHub locks your phone, then the phone can only use Sim (the actual phone line identification device) cards of the same network from SunHub. If a phone is unlocked, then it can use any Sim cards of the same network from any service provider. There are even online companies that offer to unlock a phone at the charge of five usd.



Yet, whenever we purchase phones, we simply assume, without knowing we've made an assumption, that our purchase would be able to use Sim cards of any service provider. But if a person is not going to change service provider, sell/lend his phone, then what would this person gain, other than trivial info, by knowing whether the phone he is buying is locked or unlocked. Taking handphones for granted seems 'ok' enough, but invariably, one would ask, "What if the thing you take for granted is another person, or a relationship?".



It certainly doesn't sound good, but is it neccessarily bad? What exactly does taking something for granted mean? One definition could be making assumptions that something, usually a good thing, would last. So based on this definition, let me put the phrase in a different light.



Husband says to wife, "I'm going out with a friend for a couple of drinks tonight." What happens if the wife does not take it for granted that her husband is just going for a couple of drinks and not going out to have an affair? Wouldn't that result in the wife always keeping tabs on the husband whenever he goes out? Wouldn't the whole saga eventually degenerate into a life of paranoia if some of the things weren't taken for granted?



The example brings to light the fact that taking things for granted requires a certain level of trust. But does trust facilitate taking things for granted or does taking things for granted facilitate trust, one might ask, of which i have no answer.



I think a friend of mine does not want me to talk about, on a blog, whatever i'm going to say next. But since she doesn't know that i have a blog, or i assume so, she didn't exactly ask me not to talk about it. "No beat around the bush.", that's my slogan, if anyone doesn't want me to talk about something, they should tell me directly : p



Anyway, my friend shall remain anonymous. This friend of mine has a boyfriend for couple years already. Of course, me being the loud-mouthed insensitive (while i can't stand people bashing me, somehow, i like to bash myself : D) guy, asked when she was going to get married. She went like, "unlikely."



Apparently, the guy has bought a house and my friend had moved in with him and they were becoming a little too comfortable with the scenario and the guy doesn't want to get married. Not that my friend doesn't want a marriage, but want and hope are two different things. Marriage has become to them, little more than a piece of paper. Some would feel sad for them, but i would not and i advise you not to. To each his/her own life, who are we to pity anyone.



I shall digress. I had a pretty lengthy discussion with another friend of mine on the differences between pity and looking down on someone, of which there isn't much. But there is a significant difference between pity and sympathy. How does one pity anyone? The mose basic requirement is the perception that someone is leading a life that is considered inferior/lacking compared to another which is perceived to be a better life. More often than not, that other is oneself.



Who are we to pity anyone? If not arrogance or self righteousness, how could one ever pity another person? You sympathise misfortunes, but you pity, not sympathise, lives different to a perception of better life.



Back to taking things for granted. It is obvious that whether taking things for granted is good or bad depends vastly on the context it is being used. So is taking things for granted in general good or bad? I have no answers for you, i offer you only food for thought.



Oh and a happy new year : )