Have you met adults who are not adulting? It is about their decisions to behave over simple things that make you question the actual meaning of becoming an adult. I have some stories, more precisely about my experiences with certain people who act mindlessly.
One is when my mother and I were about to step off an escalator in a mall and the person in front of us did not quickly step out of the landing, making us unable to pass through. There was a possibility we might dangerously get stuck on the escalator just because of that and it was quite scary to imagine.
Two is more of a usual thing that I have seen on the train or what we call KRL (Kereta Rel Listrik). In my story, specifically, it happened when the train was already crowded and its seats seemed like there were no spaces left. However, if you looked a little bit more thoroughly, there might be some spaces left. Simply because some people who were seated could not keep their legs closed, they took up more space than others and the people who should have had those seats could not.
And I would be honest to say that, sometimes, I do those things too.
Usually, when my friend and I walk together, we talk to each other. Just like other people in my story, we go slowly too and hold people up behind us. Sometimes, when I walk by myself, I can easily get tired of rushing or simply lazy to try. Different story with another reason, on the train, I do sit with my legs slightly open. I am a plump person and it takes more effort to close my legs for a 20-minute ride.
Following my reasons, whether the people in my story behave consciously in their senses or not, maybe they had their own reasons, the same way I did such things. However, I want to present another perspective: that the possibility of us acting with what seems like a lack of acknowledgement is rooted in common sense.
Merriam-Webster dictionary states that common sense is the ability to make decisions–usually about everyday life–without needing any special knowledge. Then, if we look at how we act upon little things as I mentioned, there is maybe a problem that occurs to our common sense. In my view, the main cause is circled around the lack of education.
My means of education is not about the 12-year school periods here in Indonesia, rather what parents had told and acted in front of us. Children follow their parents’ footsteps. Thus, when parents normalize something that they know is ultimately wrong–for instance, riding motorcycles with their children without a helmet or walking slowly in the relentlessly moving crowd while holding their children’s hands instead of carrying them–children may grow up normalizing such things. Following this, in my perspective, the problem appears: it develops into the lack of common sense upon their actions to their surroundings in everyday life.
But good news, common sense is not something embedded in yourself naturally, rather it is developed through experience. Robert Ringer from the article “Early to Rise Lifestyle: The Importance of Common Sense” states that common sense is developed through awareness and habit which are under the term of self-discipline; nevertheless, some people may purposely ignore it to achieve what they want rather than what is right to them, such as when I was crossing the road and people started to rush their vehicles instead of holding back to let me go through. Such a terrifying situation, is it not?
But telling people to change their behaviour is such a huge responsibility to do. Thus, we can start by being aware of ourselves: how we make our decisions (Martinez & Rising, 2025), and how we act between what is right and what we want (Ringer, 2011). The article “How to Develop Common Sense” provides many ways to train our common sense on decision making: think about the risks and rewards of a decision, ask your trusted peers, listen to your guts but with consideration, see a problem from other perspectives, and admit when you are making wrong decisions.
Additionally, there are two ways that we can use to improve our own common sense or at least how to deal with such issues that I have mentioned. My take on this will be: first, parents and schools need to explicitly teach children what is the right thing to do in certain situations with a specific example of each, instead of assuming they will eventually understand how to act properly. For instance, parents tell and show their children how to eat politely by not being noisy or talking when chewing, while reminding the importance of respecting other people. This may grow their understanding to always be aware and conscious of every action they take.
Second, when people start to act inconsiderately, we need to point it out. As an illustration, we could say, “Please walk promptly; this is a busy street and everyone has somewhere to go,” to someone who walks slowly in a busy area, or we could say, “Please hold your child. He has been running around and touching everybody who passes through,” to a parent who pays no attention to their child in a public space.
Therefore, we must develop our common sense, at least for our own well-being. We are the ones who are responsible for how our lives are going to be, yet it will be difficult to achieve the good things if we do not have common sense and instead, make poor decisions. At the end of the day, we are not perfect, but we can try to be aware, to learn, to practice, and to become slightly better human beings.
References
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Common sense. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 12, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/common%20sense
Martinez, D., & Rising, H. (2025, April 25). How to Develop Common Sense. wikiHow. Retrieved September 12, 2026, from https://www.wikihow.com/Develop-Common-Sense
Ringer, R. (2011, August 6). Early to Rise Lifestyle: The Importance of Common Sense. Early to Rise. Retrieved September 12, 2026, from https://www.earlytorise.com/early-to-rise-lifestyle/