Perhaps you are privy to the scientific evidence that states that a piece of food that has fallen on the ground, and is picked up in less than three seconds, is still edible. This is of course assuming that it was indeed suitable for human consumption before the fall. Dropping stale cookies does not freshen them.
There
is a lesser known Three Second Rule.
If a person's appearance or behavior causes disapproval to another person or persons for less than three seconds it does not register on the Significance Scale. This means that if I leave my trash cans out an extra day, and when my neighbors are annoyed for the duration of time it takes to shake their heads and mutter "Those Odhners, always late," and then promptly forget, it doesn't count.
If
my pant legs don't quite hide my ankles, or my shirt is rumpled, and I go to the mall in such a slovenly state, the only person likely to notice for longer than the requisite three seconds is the salesperson helping me buy new jeans, and she is too distracted with making the sale to waste energy on looking down on a potential customer. No score.
This fact has marital significance. If I think it is John's responsibility to retrieve the trash cans in a timely fashion, and
he doesn't, I refer my thinking to the Three Second Scale. To reprimand John, or even harbor resentment, for an infraction that is scientifically insignificant in terms of inter neighborly relations is more wasteful than tossing plastic water bottles at the dump. It is a misuse of nonrenewable resources, namely my good graces.
To care more about the opinion of a passing stranger than the welfare of the man I chose to spend eternity with is as foolish as folding dirty
laundry before I drop it in the sudsy water.
