The ocean swells were so large I thought I was reliving the beginning scene of Gilligan’s Island.  I had only been in the Navy for six months and out to sea for the last two.  I was pretty green (not only as a Sailor but also from the motion of the ocean).  Books, papers, and manuals were flying all over the office on board ship due to the rough seas we had encountered.  Finally, the salty ol’ Boatswain’s Mate said to me,
“Seaman Lutz, Go down to the Galley and get some ‘Chow Line’ so we can tie all this stuff down and get it secure!”
I sat there a little confused and thought, “Chow Line?”  I knew that you stood in the line to get chow but this didn’t make any sense.  He repeated his order a little more gruffly.  I walked slowly down to galley all the while thinking that this was too stupid to be a joke.
When I arrived at the galley, I asked the first line supervisor for some chow line.  Without  hesitation, he told me I needed to see the supply clerk.  So, I went to the supply clerk.  At the supply office, I was told I need to go talk to the Chief.  So, I went to talk to the Chief.  The Chief informed me that I needed to type up a special request (in triplicate) and then they’d be able to help me.  I went back to the office, explained what I needed to do and why it was taking so long, typed up the request and went back to supply.  When at supply, I handed them the request and the clerk told me, “there’s been a bit of an issue, you need to go see the Chief again.”  So, I went back to see the Chief.  I walked up to the Chief and handed him my neatly, typed out request.  He looked it over closely as if he was examining a multi-million dollar contract and then said, “Yeah….we’re all out of that.”
Sheepishly, I walked back to the office.  As soon as I walked through the door, everyone burst into laughter!  “CHOW LINE!?  HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE!?” yelled my arch enemy, Dave.  I shrugged it off and said, “they’ll get you too.”  To which Dave replied,
“No they won’t….all you have to do is have a little common sense.”
Like most things, this was brought up for the next couple of weeks and laughed about.  I kept a good attitude about being the butt of the joke because I knew it was a right of passage and that, eventually, I’d be on the other side.
A few weeks later, I was sitting in the office working as we were pulling into port in Aruba when over the ship’s intercom was announced, “NOW STATION THE MAIL BUOY WATCH!”
Immediately, Dave got up and rushed out the door.  A few minutes later, the Boatswain’s Mate said, “Lutz…..follow me to the bridge.”
When we got to the bridge and looked out to the focsle of the ship, there stood Dave…complete in full battle gear…helmet, headphones, life preserver, and a four foot hook (to grab the mail off the buoy as we pulled into port).  Within minutes, the bridge was completely full of people wanting to see the mail buoy be drawn in.  But, here’s the catch….the is no mail buoy.    The thought that mail would be sitting in the ocean (or that Dave could reach it with a four foot hook) was ludicrous.  The entire bridge erupted with laughter as they watched Dave diligently stand his post and be ready to grab the mail.  Eventually, after thirty minutes, the Captain said, “Okay, that’s enough” and the call was made to secure the watch.
Dave returned to the office and received the same welcome I had with the “chow line.”  He hung is head quickly when the Boatswain said in a snarky tone, “I guess Common Sense isn’t all that common, is it?”

Dave knew (much like I knew with when getting the chow line) that this task defied all logic and was too stupid to be a joke.  He failed (again, like me) to employ his common sense.
How often has this been true for you?  I know it has happened numerous times to me over the years.  I fail to use what I know and employ my common sense.  If common sense isn’t used, isn’t it really uncommon sense?
Common sense becomes uncommon when we fail to use what we know.  Call it the busy-ness of life or that we are cast into an strange environment with nothing to compare things to but we all have had this happen.  We don’t do what we know we should until after the situation is over.

Want to connect better with those around you?  Here are some uncommon sense ways you can easily employ.  https://www.unconventionalleader.com/uncommon-sense/